Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit.

On Committee Stage, we outlined Sinn Féin's objection to the Bill, in that it is unfair to fishing communities because they cannot expunge the points they are given if they go to court.All of those issues were debated on Committee Stage, and unfortunately the Minister would not take on board our concerns. The amendments we have submitted today on Report Stage that have made it onto the Order Paper all deal with the same issue, which is substituting the words "an Irish" for "a European". This again goes back to the idea of discrimination and why Irish fisher men and women would be treated differently to their European counterparts. We already know that they are competing with super trawlers, and that they come under their quotas, which are less than what they should be. The very minimum we can do is ensure that they are on an equal footing when it comes to this penalty points system, and that it would be the same system for all European fisher men and women, as opposed to just Irish fisher men and women.