Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I second the motion.

Statements were made in the House previously on the Ombudsman's report on the lost at sea scheme. In the contribution made by the former Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, he clearly pointed out that "eligible applicants were those who had lost a fishing vessel between 1980 and the establishment of the sea fishing boat register in 1990, but who had been unable to replace the fishing vessel for verified financial reasons." A superficial understanding of this case might lead one to conclude that this sounds relatively straightforward. One might conclude that a scheme was set up for boats lost between 1980 and 1990, to which anyone who wished to so do could apply and that the applicant in the case under discussion did so one year after the closing date and that a report was produced by the Ombudsman who found in favour of the applicant. If asked what was the likely outcome, one would have been likely to suggest the Ombudsman would find the application had been made outside the time limit, that it had been too late and that the applicants had been given plenty of time in which to apply. For most, this is what a superficial understanding of the report would suggest. However, for the first time, the Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly, has proposed that it be referred for a full debate in the Oireachtas. Consequently, if this is how the Ombudsman feels about the report, one might conclude there must be something to it. When one hears that the Government has tried to block discussion on the report at a committee, one really starts to become concerned about what is going on. When the Minister of State responds, he must clarify why the Government is blocking our motion.

The debate on 18 February was a good and open discussion on this issue,. It was kept below the political radar.