Manus Boyle (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will start by congratulating Jim McGuinness and the Donegal team on their great win over Derry at the weekend. It was great to see and gives the whole county a lift.

I also thank the Donegal fire service, the Garda and local volunteers who turned out on Sunday night to put out a gorse fire in Barnesmore Gap. It was great to see how the community came together to help and work along with the fire service.

I stand here very annoyed. Over the weekend - it was a busy weekend - an Irish vessel landed 750 tonnes of top-quality blue whiting at Killybegs on Friday evening. When the vessel landed, its crew were told they would have to have a monitor. That is where it all went wrong. We have no problem with monitors in Killybegs, but it should be done in the factory. They were requested by the monitor to put fish through a fish machine for weighing. Blue whiting is a very soft fish and it comes out like a paste, destroying the fish. By Sunday evening, when we could not it sorted out, 750 tonnes of prime quality fish went to the fishmeal plant. That would have fed 30,000 people in west Africa where they are crying out for fish.

There is something wrong here. Somebody has to stand up to the plate and somebody's head has to roll over this. How can any Irish person turn around and turn away 750 tonnes of good quality fish and not answer the questions? Some 50 people were sent home from the factory. It was Sunday when wages were paid at double time. It was worth a lot of money to Killybegs and its people. I want the Minister to come in here and answer the questions. Who gave the go-ahead to do this? It is wrong when a high-protein food that could feed so many people was turned away after two days and turned into fishmeal. I hope we can get the Minister in here to answer those questions.