Coveney vows to act on trawler exploitation
The marine minister chaired the first interdepartmental meeting yesterday during which it was agreed to produce a co-ordinated response to the allegations of exploitation.
A Guardian report on Monday claimed African and Asian illegal migrant workers are regularly used on board some Irish fishing vessels and these workers, work long hours and are paid a fraction of the local rate.
These workers are not allowed to go ashore without permission, the year-long investigation alleged.
Mr Coveney said: “This is an issue that the Government is committed to resolving. Already a lot of work has been done on tackling work and safety related issues in the fishing industry.
“Today, this taskforce committed to produce a co-ordinated cross-departmental response. The issues covered were information sharing, enforcement, permitting, licensing, exploitation, and trafficking.”
The Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland, the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), and the fishermen producer organisations will make presentations at next week’s meeting.
The decision to establish a high level inter-departmental taskforce to examine the wide range of issues identified in recent media reports, was taken at a Cabinet meeting earlier this week.
Mr Coveney said: “It is essential firstly to establish a full understanding of the complex issues involved and the meeting today has allowed all the state authorities to share information on their individual remit and experiences.
“I want to see a joined-up State response.”
The meeting examined “the complex issues” arising from a Guardian article on the matter this week and discussed the most appropriate response, included representatives from the Departments of Justice, Jobs, Transport, Agriculture, the Attorney General’s office, gardaí, navy, and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority.
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