asked the Minister for Lands if he will state the date on which a comprehensive survey was last made off the Dingle Peninsula coast of the inshore and deep-sea fish potential; if it is now deemed necessary and desirable to have a similar survey of these waters taken; and how soon an experimental boat can be provided for this purpose, and the necessary survey commenced.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Survey off Dingle Peninsula Coast.
I am not aware of any comprehensive survey of this type in the past. As I mentioned in connection with the original and Supplementary Estimates for Fisheries for the current year, exploratory fishing work is long overdue and its lack is a great handicap to successful fishing operations. In the Supplementary Estimate I included provision for the initial portion of the cost of an exploratory vessel which it is hoped to build in an Irish boatyard. I need scarcely add that I am anxious that the vessel should be completed and surveys undertaken as speedily as possible. The desirability of a survey of the waters off the Dingle Peninsula will, of course, be borne in mind.