asked the Minister for Fisheries if he will outline his Department's plans for the development of mariculture.
Ceisteanna—Questions . Oral Answers . - Mariculture Development .
4.
: I am preparing legislation the purpose of which is to simplify the procedures under which exclusive rights for fish farming in the sea can be obtained and amended and to extend the species of fish for which such rights can be granted.
Members of the Department's staff will continue to give advice and technical assistance to existing and potential fish farmers with a view to increasing the rate of development of mariculture.
: Will the Minister tell the House if any member of his staff is on the board of a company that is running the development of mariculture?
: That is a separate question.
: It is not. If that is the case those people have a vested interest.
: If the Deputy gives me details I will inquire into this matter.
: Would the Minister approve of such an arrangement?
: I am not going to enter into a hypothetical discussion, but I will look into the statement made by Deputy Begley.
: It is not a hypothetical question. If the Minister was briefed he would know all about this.
: I will inquire into that.
: That side of the House know all about fixing; the most unique fixers of all time.
: A Fianna Fáil red herring.
: As I told Deputy Killilea before, he would not know a crab from a lobster.
: Has the Minister had any communication with the National Science Council or their successors in regard to the development of our knowledge and expertise of mariculture and can he give an indication to the House of the extent of this communication and whether the universities are going to be involved in developing our expertise in this area?
: I am glad Deputy Quinn raised this constructive supplementary question on this matter. The Department are co-operating with the National Board for Science and Technology in drawing up a list of sites around the coast which are potentially suitable for mariculture. We have received more than 200 applications already and these are being processed and examined. The whole area of mariculture is being extended beyond the traditional activity under this heading, which dealt with oysters, mussels, periwinkles and cockles, to include all types of fish. This will be provided for in the forthcoming legislation in which we will have an up-dating of the law covering mariculture so as to provide for all varieties of sea fish and salmon and to give legal title to people who are approved by licence after inquiry to fish in this manner around our coast, which is very suitable for this purpose. As part of the EEC fishery negotiations, I have got all the member states, apart from Britain, to agree to a grant of 50 per cent of the cost of all such mariculture ventures. This 50 per cent grant is confined to Ireland, Scotland and Greenland. The grant is being made available because of the favourable factors which exist for mariculture around our coast.
: Is this 50 per cent grant of any use to Ireland unless Britain agree to it?
: Britain is being very difficult in the general area of concluding EEC negotiations. We have already won this deal for ourselves as part of the overall package. I am seeking to have it as part of a mini-package in advance of the overall package and this matter will come up for discussion on 19, 20 and 21 June.
: Is the Minister suggesting that this is a fact without the agreement of Britain?
: What I am saying to the Deputy is that this is part of a package which has been submitted by the Commission and agreed to by eight of the nine member states. There must be agreement by all member states on a fundamental matter such as a new fisheries policy.
: So it is of no use.
: The Deputy should not be so silly.
: Is it the Minister's intention to develop these plans in co-ordination with the Department of the Environment and is the development of mariculture, as envisaged by his Department, to be incorporated in some way in a policy for the environment which was announced by his predecessor? Perhaps the Minister can clarify the division between the environment and mariculture as there is a considerable overlap?
: There must be close co-operation between the Department of the Environment and the universities, the various research organisations and my Department. It is an area in which there are tremendous prospects in the immediate and long-term. Our climate, coastline and general conditions favour this type of mariculture. A considerable amount of research has already been done by the ESB, BIM, the Salmon Research Trust and Arthur Guinness and Sons.
: Would the Minister not agree that the potential of this development will not be helped by local authorities pumping raw sewage into certain areas of our coast and industries pumping in different kinds of effluent?
: I agree with Deputy Quinn on this aspect of the matter. What he has said is germane to the development which could prove fruitless in the event of excessive pollution from the sources which he has mentioned.
: The Minister referred to a number of agencies such as the National Science Council, BIM and so on. Is the Minister aware that the recent developments in mariculture have resulted from the excellent research work at the Marine Biology Station at Carna under the auspices of UCG? As a result of that research, Gaeltarra Éireann have been successful commercially. Will the Minister ensure that adequate finance is made available for the continuation of the excellent research work at Carna?
: I appreciate the excellent work that has been done by UCG and by Gaeltarra Éireann. All this work will be brought together under the auspices of the National Council of Science and Technology to ensure that the research is co-ordinated. The new inland fisheries legislation will make provision for the licensing of projects under this heading.
: Arising out of the rather casual response of the Minister to an earlier supplementary of mine, would the Minister clarify whether the 50 per cent grant for mariculture enterprises is available now or whether it is contingent on the agreement of Britain to the project?
: The 50 per cent grant towards mariculture, the 50 per cent grant towards new boats and the moneys being made available towards protection for boats and aeroplanes are part of a package which has already been agreed to by eight of the nine member states. The matter is due for discussion on 19, 20 and 21 June at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers.
: In other words, final agreement has not yet been reached?
: That is obvious.