2026-06-10

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting my Topical Issue. I did not think last time I raised this matter in the House that I would have to come back again. It is not one of the major problems in the Department, which has more to deal with. However, whether it is the Department, the Minister of State or the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, they are unable to resolve this. I will make the charge immediately and explain it: it is total discrimination against the people I represent in Burtonport. When Deputy Dooley assumed the office of Minister of State with responsibility for the marine and made his first visit to Donegal, he met with a fisherman from Burtonport who uses the port. He listened attentively to him and I thank him for that, but that was over a year and a half ago and still no progress has been made. I pose this question: who is in charge? Is it the Minister of State, the officials in the Department or the SFPA? I will explain the simplicity of all this. As I outlined to the Minister of State at the time, Greencastle, Rathmullen and Burtonport were originally designated as landing ports for Northern Ireland-registered vessels landing crab into the State, with Bunagee, Malin and Glengad in the north of the county added later - not by the SFPA but by ministerial order. Burtonport was still ignored. All designated ports except Burtonport allow landings from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., Monday to Friday, and until 5 p.m. on Saturday. Burtonport is restricted to 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, with no Saturday landings permitted. This places vessels landing in Burtonport at a clear disadvantage. They simply seek parity with other ports. This has a direct impact on access to the Chinese market. Transfers are made to Holland on Saturday for onward shipment to the premium markets in China where maximum prices can be attained for Irish products. Those landing into Burtonport are deprived of that. The restricted hours and lack of Saturday landings are inconsistent with the arrangements in the other designated ports. To illustrate the impact, a recent landing had to be made at Burtonport on a Saturday when a crew member had to return to Burtonport to bring his child to hospital. That was not considered a force majeure. They very kindly said - I am being sarcastic when I say that, "We're only warning you. We're not going to charge you." There are plenty of force majeure landings into Dún Laoghaire by Belgian fleets. Where is the SFPA when this is happening? It happened when a father of a child had to be taken into Burtonport. An initiative has to be taken. There is no way this should be allowed to continue, whether it is the Minister of State, the Department or the SFPA. I had this out with the former executive chairman of the SFPA before his retirement. What steps has the Minister of State taken to replace that person? Some weeks afterwards, has he taken steps to put somebody there in an acting capacity? Let me in conclusion make the charge of discrimination and vindictiveness, and pose the question again: who is in charge?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is an issue I am very familiar with as a result of his continued lobbying. I had an opportunity to meet with the Deputy and some representatives of the fishing community who use Burtonport Harbour. All work in relation to Ireland's exclusive fisheries zone comprises law enforcement matters for the Irish control authorities. Under the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006, all operational matters concerning sea-fisheries control are, as a matter of law, exclusively for the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority. It is effectively in charge of the entire operation there. The Naval Service is involved as well. Under the Act, I am precluded from getting involved in operational matters. When it comes to the designation of the port, I understand that is the competency of the Department and Minister concerned. As I have delegated powers in that regard, it is my responsibility. UK fishing vessels, including Northern Irish vessels, had a pattern of landings into many Irish ports prior to the UK's withdrawal from the EU. In the post-Brexit period, UK vessels are now considered as third country vessels. County Donegal has the most landings by smaller Northern Ireland fishing vessels into smaller ports to which they traditionally landed. Killybegs and Castletownbere have been designated for third country landings for some time. In 2021, Burtonport, Rathmullen, Greencastle, Howth and Ros an Mhíl were designated as ports for third country landings also. In 2023, three new ports in County Donegal — Bunagee, Glengad and Malin Head — as well as Dunmore East, were designated for landing of UK-registered Northern Ireland vessels. In addition, the opening hours in Greencastle were extended. The four newly designated ports were additional to the seven ports already designated. There are significant practical and cost implications for the State in the designation of EU ports for third country landings. Under EU regulations, such designations represent an entry point to the European Union, following which food is free to circulate within the full EU Common Market. On this basis, for any ports designated, Ireland is obliged to ensure that it has in place a meaningful control presence. The current ports designated and the opening days and times for those ports were decided to allow for Northern Ireland registered vessels to continue to land into Irish ports, while ensuring that the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, has the capacity to continue to perform its vital control functions effectively. The authority has advised that additional resources would be required in order to extend the operational hours for Burtonport. On that basis, the SFPA has been asked to submit a business case to the Department on this matter, and any additional resources that may be required at Greencastle. All business cases are assessed on their own merits once submitted. Any additional headcount that may be sought by the SFPA will require sanction from both our Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. I also assure the Deputy that the designation of ports for landings does not preclude vessels from coming into ports for force majeure reasons, such as safe harbour. I take on board the issue he raised, and I will try to have that investigated. I have set out for him the facts as they are and will answer some of his specific questions. Paschal Hayes, as the Deputy knows, submitted his decision to retire some time ago. There will be a public competition to replace that third member of the authority, but in answer to the Deputy’s question regarding who is now in charge, I intend to appoint in an acting capacity one of the two remaining members of the commission in the coming days. I will keep him updated on that.

I am disappointed to learn that a business case has to be made to open Burtonport for a few hours. When looking at the map of Donegal, there is no designated port from Greencastle to Killybegs where fishermen can land on Saturdays. It is putting people's lives of risks and depriving them of accessing the Chinese market. It makes no sense at all. It makes no sense to have Burtonport linked to Greencastle, which is an hour and a half away, whereas it should be linked to Killybegs, which is 48 km and 45 minutes away. As the Minister of State knows, fishery officers are not laid off if there are no landings in Killybegs during the summer. There are 20 fishery officers there and all they have to do is slip down the back road from Killybegs to Ardara to Burtonport, and they do not have to come. There is an insinuation that a fishery officer has to be there every time a vessel is landed. I will pose the question at a later stage and I want the details. Is there a fishery officer at every port when fish are being landed? There is not. I am around long around to know that. There is somebody in the Minister of State's Department or in the SFPA who is being difficult. They are being intransigent about this. They are discriminating against the people I represent. I strongly believe that this must be resolved soon rather than later. I think I am the only one left in this House from the class of 1981. I am here all of these years and I never had to come in to make a case like this for something that is so simple. We talk about money; I understand if the SFPA is coming to make a case to the fisheries committee. When its officials attend, they have to spend some money in preparing to come there and the amount of money we are talking is peanuts. A predecessor of the Minister of State's was able to designate ports in north Donegal but ignored west Donegal for some reason. To leave all of that area without a designated port on Saturdays deprives fishermen of going into that lucrative market.

Go raibh maith agat, a Theachta. Tá an t-am caite.

I sincerely hope that I will not have to come into this House again to make the case.

I assure the Deputy that I will make every effort to ensure that he does not have come in and be as passionate as he is about this issue. It is something that I am aware of. I am working to try to find a resolution. I take the Deputy's point about the language that is sometimes used to set out the reasoning, with terms such as "business case", "headcount" and "personnel". Having travelled the road in the Deputy's presence, it is clear to me that there is an issue here that has to be resolved. I commit to doing my best to try to get it resolved as quickly as possible. It is a fair ask. I do not believe it is unreasonable, and I certainly do not believe that the costs should be prohibitive taking everything into consideration. The Deputy should be assured of my effort to try to resolve this in so far as is possible and as quickly as possible. I thank him again.

I thank the Minister of State.