#lostatsea – "At today's European Parliament hearing into the Donegal 'Lost at Sea' case, it was declared that the Irish government must find a solution for the Byrne family who have yet to receive justice or compensation for the maladministration of the scheme", Jim Higgins MEP said in Brussels this afternoon
The Midlands North West MEP hosted Byrne family member Danny Byrne in bringing the Lost at Sea case to the European Parliament's Petitions Committee, requesting that the Irish government compensates the Donegal family, according to recommendations by the then Irish Ombudsman, Emily O' Reilly.
"The petition outlined the case of the Byrne family who sought but were wrongfully refused assistance from the Lost at Sea Scheme in 2001, after their father (Francis, 40), brother (Jimmy, 16) and three crew members were lost when their boat the Skifjord struck a reef off Burtonport and sank on October 31, 1981," Mr Higgins explained.
"In 2009, the then Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, published a scathing attack on the then Government's Lost at Sea Scheme. Among her findings she highlighted several oddities of the scheme - the fact that it only actively took in applications for six months, the selective advertisement of the scheme and that 75% of the compensation went to two constituents of Fianna Fáil's Frank Fahey TD - who created the scheme."
The Fine Gael MEP who has been seeking justice for the Byrne family since 2004 highlighted the Ombudsman's recommendation that €245,570 be granted to the Byrne family – compensation which is still outstanding.
"On reviewing the case today, the Petitions Committee unanimously agreed to officially request that the Irish government reviews the case in light of the Ombudsman's report and compensates the family. The Committee Chairman commented that the 'Irish government must find a solution' to the case and that is what we want – justice and compensation that is long overdue."
A European Commission spokesperson present at the hearing said the case could not qualify as an infringement of EU law as the Lost at Sea scheme had not been notified to the Commission at the time of its existence and no longer exists.
Mr Higgins added that it was an issue for the Irish government, stressing that he will continue to pursue the right to justice and compensation for the family with the national authorities and now with the added support of the European Parliament Committee.