Tom Shehan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and compliment him on the fact that he has taken to his portfolio like the proverbial a duck to water. Speaking to colleagues and others, it is widely recognised that he is the most helpful and the most approachable and I thank him for that.

The issue I raise is of national importance and relates to the whole fishing industry. It affects Dingle, Killybegs, Castletownbere, Rossaveal and Dunmore East and relates to the new process of weighing fish. The EU directive on the weighing of fish states that the fish will be weighed on the boat, on the pier or in the factory. We have spoken many times about Ireland and its participation in the EU but the practice here currently is to do all three. The fish, including herring and mackerel, the season for which opened two weeks ago tomorrow, are being weighed on the boat, dry weighed on the pier and weighed in the factory.

Approximately two years ago, the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government brought in administrative sanctions, fines and penalties for indiscretions in the fishing industry. For the life of me, I cannot understand why they are not being implemented. A sledge hammer is being used to crack a nut here. Obviously, as in any industry, there is always a rogue or a couple of rogues but what is happening now is that the whole industry is being virtually shut down as a result of more red tape and bureaucracy. There are an additional 12 conditions.

The factories in which the fish is processed must put in cameras. I was trying to think of a comparable workplace, other than here where we are constantly looking into cameras, but I do not know of any other workplace in which there are cameras. It is not as if the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority is short of staff. It has 100 inspectors and we are talking about five places in the country which must be inspected.

A compromise is needed here. We are two weeks into the herring and mackerel season. I spoke to a factory owner in Killybegs during the week and he informed me that he lost a boat during the week and a turnover of €3 million. That boat, laden with fish, went to Scotland so those fish did not land in Ireland. The men and women were not working in the factory and the factory was effectively closed. It does not make sense. The fish are gone, the fish processors are closed and the fish processing workers will be gone.

As I said, two years ago, administrative sanctions were brought in by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, to deal with rogues in the fishing industry and that is why they should be implemented. Why not tie up someone's boat following an infringement and remove that person's licence following another infringement rather than tarnish everyone in the fishing industry as a rogue out to fiddle the system? Rather than concentrate our focus on the Irish fishing industry, with which I have no issue, a compromise could be reached here. We should focus more on the Faroese and the Icelandics who have taken 1 million tonnes of mackerel and herring in the past five years and not hammer our own little industry. The factory workers will not have work and the factories will close.

The resolution lies with the 100 inspectors in the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority. There should be random weighing checks and random checks in the factories with one weighing process, which is sought in the EU directive, and not three different weighing processes. Anyone found to be breaking the law should be dealt with by the courts. That is what should be done. A resolution could be found very quickly. As I said, we are two weeks into the herring and mackerel season.