Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Before I speak on The Guardianreport on the Irish fishing industry, I assure Senator Mooney that I do not believe that there is any kind of soap opera going on between the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, and Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan. The issue of housing and the capacity to sort it out will take a number of weeks. There is no magic wand to wave. Senator Mooney has been long enough in this House to know that these things take time.

Senator Quinn has acknowledged that he has been raising the tagging issue for years now and it will now be introduced. There is still much work to be done. Calling the relationship between the two Ministers a soap opera is ill-advised.

It is clear that a lot of work has gone into The Guardianreport this week and those involved should be thanked. It is an important issue. The seafood sector in Ireland is worth approximately €850 million and it is predicated on it being a clean, green and health industry. It is unacceptable that some, though not all, members of the industry are employing illegal workers and treating them in a manner akin to slavery. The sooner we resolve this issue the better.

I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine of a cross-departmental working group which will include the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Justice and Equality. We should be able to have a debate on that issue so Members of this House will be able to advise and offer suggestions to the Minister for agriculture on the working group.

One of the observations that has been made is that it is very difficult to get Irish people to do the arduous work that is required on fishing vessels. That was never an excuse for any organisation or company to exploit workers from other countries, to treat them like slaves and ignore their rights. Those rights have been hard-won over many decades. They have not been trained to do what can only be described as hazardous work and have not been paid properly. It took courage for them to speak out.Goodness knows the risk to which they have put themselves in order to do so. They are not people who have anything on their side. We are grateful toThe Guardianfor raising these matters and I ask the Leader that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine come before the House as a matter of urgency in order that we might have a full debate on the ramifications of these findings.