asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if a producer group or groups have been formed to deal with the handling and marketing of fish; and how the group or groups have been constituted.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Fish Marketing.
31.
I assume the Deputy is referring to the producer organisations envisaged in the EEC regulation on the common organisation of the market in fishery products. No such organisation has as yet been established in this country.
Do I take it that as yet fisheries are not geared to avail of the marketing services being provided by the EEC?
That to an extent is correct. The Department are very anxious to get the producer organisations under way. We are, to put it mildly, disappointed with the efforts made so far. We had a meeting of fishermen in Dublin in March, 1973, and North, West, South and East were represented, from Lough Foyle to Sligo Bay, from Sligo Bay to Derry Head, from Loop Head to Ballycotton Bay and Ballycotton Bay to Carlingford Lough. Then there was a follow up meeting of fishermen from Cahirciveen and Castletownbere in Killarney on the 5th May, 1973. So far as the Department are aware no further developments have taken place in the meantime. I am fully behind the move to get the producer organisations under way and I am hopeful that the fishermen will get down to business. They can be assured of the Department's co-operation.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary satisfied that it has been sufficiently brought to the attention of the fishermen that this is not any longer simply a question of forming cooperatives because they are socially desirable things but that there is hard cash from the FEOGA Guidance Section involved in this and if these producers groups are not formed a lot of these grants will not be available to the fishermen?
The Department have been encouraging boat owners to form producer organisations for a very long time. Senior officials of the Department and of Bord Iascaigh Mhara have explained the purpose and role of producer organisations to fishermen at several meetings around the coast. So far as the Department and BIM are concerned we have discharged our obligations of explaining what producer organisations could mean to the fishermen in the context of the Deputy's supplimentary question. I am hopeful we will have vital reports in the not too distant future.
I am grateful to the Parliamentary Secretary for the information he has given. Is he satisfied there has been a sufficient follow up in order to get these producer groups off the ground?
What more follow up could the Deputy suggest? We have had meetings at different centres. We have sent officers of the Department and BIM have also sent officers of the board to explain the advantages of producer organisations. Possibly the fishermen are at present discussing between themselves what action they will take. I hope we will hear from the different fishermen's organisations in the not too distant future.