Danny Healy-Rae urges support for fishermen and cataract patients
Danny Healy-Rae urged the minister to protect fishermen, resolve supply problems for meat and potatoes, and secure continued cross-border cataract treatment. He pressed for adequate capacity for live exports and shipping, encouraged local potato planting and requested a bilateral arrangement to allow cataract removals in Northern Ireland to continue after 31st December.
Fisheries and local communities
He described fishing as an onerous, dangerous job and appealed to the minister not to "leave our fishermen shot." He cited Dingle, the Dingle Peninsula, Cal Savine, Castellon, Bear and the Bearheaven as communities that depend heavily on fishing and on the product that comes into local villages day and night.
Meat, live exports and spuds
He referenced concerns raised by Deputy O'Donoghue about meat-based products and said adequate capacity for live exports and shipping must be provided, warning of likely queues and problems. On potatoes he said if suppliers from the UK do not sell spuds, "let them keep their spuds" and argued farmers can plant their own now, with possible assistance for seed potatoes.
Cataract treatment and a bilateral arrangement
He stressed that he and Michael Collins have raised the need for a bilateral arrangement to allow patients to continue seeking cataract removal in Northern Ireland, where the work has been carried out for over three years. He asked for deep discussions to ensure the arrangement continues after 31st December to avoid people going blind in the early months of next year.
Immediate timing and appeal to the minister
He emphasised the short timeline for action on cataract cases and urged prompt measures on fisheries, exports and potato planting, appealing directly to the minister that the cataract arrangement is the most important issue to be sorted out.
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I'm glad to get the opportunity to mention a few important things here. I suppose the first thing is in relation to the fisheries. I'm appealing to you, Minister, to not leave our fishermen shot. I mean, their job is an onerous, dangerous job at the best of times. Many in Dingle, in the Dingle Peninsula, Cal Savine, Castellon, Bear and the Bearheaven and all along the Khmer history, they depend an awful lot on fishing. And it's the one thing I mentioned, it's the one product that goes up to our village day and night, and I'm proud, East Lord that passes up, I'm proud to see that and glad to see that happening. Like Deputy O'Donoghue said, there is a problem, or has been highlighted, about meat-based products, it means meat and sausages, that must be sorted out. We must have adequate capacity for live exports, and shipping, you seem to be saying that you're making progress with that, but I anticipate there'll be queues and that there's going to be problems with that. They need to be sorted out. There's supposedly a problem with spuds, getting spuds from the UK, let them keep their spuds if they don't want to sell them to us. We can plant our own spuds, and let them stop by us, with the spuds they have, and we'll manage fine without that spuds. We're at the right time of the year, get out there now, and advertise it, and tell farmers that there's an opening for planting spuds, and we're at the right time of the year, and maybe assist them in providing seed potatoes and whatever, and now's the time to do it. But I suppose the most important thing, and I've raised it here, as well as Michael Collins several times before, we're asking for a bilateral arrangement to allow patients seeking cataract removal, and that in the Northern Ireland, where we've been doing it now for over three years, I'm asking that we're going to go into deep discussions to ensure that a bilateral arrangement will continue after the 31st of December, and to ensure that we will be able to see after people and ensure that they won't go blind in the early months of next year, because there's only a short timeline between needing the cataract very badly, being removed very badly, and going blind. I'm appealing to you, Minister, that's the most important thing in the whole talk that needs to be sorted out. Thank you very much.
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