asked the Minister for Lands if he will state in respect of the different categories of junior staff at the Galway fish plant (1) their ages and (2) the wages paid to (a) male and (b) female workers.
17.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Galway Fish Landings.
16.
asked the Minister for Lands the name or names in which the licence for the importation of fish landed by a Spanish trawler, the Andreas G, at Galway Harbour was registered.
18.
asked the Minister for Lands if fish landed by foreign trawlers at Galway are subject to levy.
19.
asked the Minister for Lands (a) the names of the outside interests now using the Bord Iascaigh Mhara fish plant at Galway, (b) the date when these groups entered into agreement with the Board, (c) what financial arrangements were made with the Board, and (d) if he will make a statement in regard to this matter.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 to 19 inclusive together.
Excluding a supervisory and clerical staff of three, there are 55 workers employed at the fish processing factory operated by An Bord Iascaigh Mhara at Galway comprising:
|
Males over 16 years |
16 |
|
Males under 16 years |
2 |
|
Females over 16 years |
19 |
|
Females under 16 years |
18 |
The rates of wages paid are 3/11 per hour for male workers over 16 years and 2/4 per hour for female workers over 16 years. Male and female workers under 16 years are paid at the rate of 2/- per hour.
The licence for the importation of fish from the vessel Andreas G was granted in the name of Sea Industries Ltd.
Fish from foreign trawlers may be landed at Galway only in accordance with a licence under the Fish (Regulation of Import) (No. 2) Order, 1938. One of the conditions of any such licence is that the fish be exported in processed form and, accordingly, payment to the Fishing Industry Development Fund of the voluntary contribution or levy applicable to imports of white fish for human consumption in the State does not arise.
I consider it would be wrong to disclose details of commercial transactions entered into between An Bord Iascaigh Mhara and private firms. I might add however that the Board's activities in this respect are designed to act as an incentive to greater private investment in the processing industry.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary give the date when these numbers were employed at the fish factory?
I cannot give the Deputy the exact date, but it is a recent one.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary explain why he stated in this House last week that the reason for the refusal at Galway was the condition of the fish? I hold here a letter from An Bord Iascaigh Mhara stating the refusal was due to staff shortage.
How many were employed in the factory when the Deputy's Party were in office?
I am not aware of the letter to which the Deputy has referred. My reference was to a previous occasion to which the Deputy referred with regard to a number of instances in which fish was rejected by this factory because the fish was either too small or in bad condition. The Deputy is, I think, referring to one occasion on 21st July when every effort was made to take in all the fish offered by the fishermen. Most of it was taken but a certain amount could not be taken because no fish, or practically no fish, had been offered to the factory for weeks; suddenly they were offered a large amount and then, in subsequent weeks, they were again offered none, or practically none. As I have endeavoured to explain to the Deputy in the past, one cannot run a factory on that basis.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that some 2,000 boxes of white fish have been landed per week at Killybegs? Very often that white fish is dumped into the fishmeal factory at Killybegs. Were it not for the presence in Galway of the foreign trawler, is it not a fact that this fish could be utilised by the Galway factory?
I am aware from figures supplied, by the harbour master in Killybegs, I think, that the 2,000 boxes of fish referred to by the Deputy cover a period of four weeks, not one week.
Can the Parliamentary Secretary say why these fish are not purchased by the processing plant?
The fish are sold by public auction on the pier at Killybegs.
We are talking about Galway now.
The Killybegs plant cannot buy the fish. They cannot get it.
Are the Killybegs plant and the Galway plant the same?
They are the same.
Now we know the clique.
Is the Deputy aware that the fish was sold by the fishermen's free choice on the fresh market?
Rightly so.
(Interruptions.)
It is another Fine Gael stunt.
There is no stunt about it.
(Interruptions.)
20.
asked the Minister for Lands the amount in hundredweights of the different types of fish landed by the Spainsh fishery trawler, the Andreas G, at Galway.
As the reply is in the form of a tabular statement, I propose, with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to have it circulated with the Official Report.
Following is the statement:
|
Type of Fish |
Quantity in cwts |
|
Sole |
4½ |
|
Brill |
2 |
|
Turbot |
3 |
|
Megrims |
15 |
|
Ray/Skate |
12½ |
|
Cod |
41 |
|
Haddock |
141½ |
|
Hake |
¾ |
|
Whiting |
1¼ |
|
Pollack |
109¾ |
|
Monk fish tails |
5¼ |
|
Dublin Bay prawns |
17 |
|
Miscellaneous kinds (for fish meal purposes) |
93¾ |
The foregoing statement covers two landings, made on 30 November, 1964, and 7 December, 1964.