I move:
That a sum not exceeding £36,286,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 1992, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for the Marine, including certain services administered by that Office, and for payment of certain grants and sundry grants-in-aid."
Public spending must be driven on the basis of its impact on employment, direct and indirect. Looking at my own Department's spending, a complex picture emerges in relation to employment. Before turning to the detail of the Estimates I want to comment briefly on this issue.
We are a maritime people. Around our coasts, 15,000 people depend on our fishing industry for their livelihoods, but the potential for new jobs in fishing and fishing-related activities is untapped. The growth of aquaculture, for example, indicates the possibilities presented by our invaluable natural resources. From negligible beginnings — ten years ago — this industry is now worth over £40 million a year. Production levels, which are still in their infancy, now stand at over 30,000 tonnes, creating 2,500 jobs. Recent reports show that a further 1,000 jobs could be generated within this sector. I cannot over-emphasise the importance which I and the Government attach to job creation. The sectors for which my Department are responsible are significant employers. I intend to expand the role of my Department in promoting new jobs.
Expenditure generated by inland fisheries and sea angling was estimated by the Economic and Social Research Institute at £74 million in 1990. A conservative estimate of jobs supported by this sector was 1,900. Marine leisure activities are now a very significant and rapidly growing component of tourism in Europe and elsewhere. As many as 25 million persons annually are attracted to these activities in Europe alone. We have an outstanding natural advantage in this area having, as we do, a plentiful supply of environmentally clean coastal and inland waters and a varied coastline.
Our harbours also promote jobs by facilitating trade with the benefits which modern technology and practice allow. I will build on what we have achieved already and on our strengths. I intend within my own Department to focus on this crucial subject. In the sea fishery area, for example, the review of the Common Fisheries Policy is of vital importance to us. We need a better deal for Ireland on which to build jobs. In this connection I would like to tell the House that I have today appointed Mr. Eamon Doherty, former Commissioner of the Garda Síochána as chairman of the review group on the Common Fisheries Policy. I would like to pay tribute to Dr. Ken Whitaker, the former chairman of the group for his major contribution to this important issue.
From next year onwards, I have decided to re-format the presentation of my Department's Estimates so that the programmes for which my Department are responsible are identified with greater clarity. This approach will facilitate transparency and, indeed, debate. For the purpose of today's debate I intend to present spending under the following headings: Administration covering the overheads and running costs of my Department, some £8.8 million — I should point out that that covers primarily staffing costs and overheads of marine safety, research, harbour development and other functions of my Department; Marine Safety Services, covering marine communications infrastructure, marine rescue and a grant to the Commissioners of Irish Lights, some £7.5 million; Harbour Development and Coastal Protection, covering commercial harbours and State harbours, some £2.7 million; Marine Research conducted at my own Department's Fishery Research Centre, the Salmon Research Agency and with a contingency for the establishment of a Marine Institute, some £2.5 million; Sea-fisheries and Aquaculture Development, covering fishery harbour development, BIM grant-in-aid for running costs and capital investment and fisheries management expenditure, some £10.4 million; Inland Fisheries Development, some £7.6 million; and finally some £1 million on Miscellaneous Services.
Programmes operated by my Department affect employment in a number of ways. Firstly, there is the direct employment provided by the Department and their agencies in the provision of public services or in regulating various activities, safety of ships or fish hygiene, for example, in the public interest. Many of these programmes, for example, in the health and hygiene area of the fishery sector, serve to protect and promote employment by ensuring consumer confidence in the product at home and in the wider single European market. Consequently, these are crucial to the development of the industry. Secondly, there is the employment stimulated in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors by direct BIM assistance programmes — loans and grants — and facilitated by the efficient operation of licensing regimes in the aquaculture and foreshore areas by my Department proper. In this latter respect, rapid strides have been made in recent years. Thirdly, there are the jobs which flow indirectly to the economy as a result of infrastructural improvements effected at ports, fishery harbour centres and the competitive advantage which derive from these. The research efforts of the Department similarly serve to stimulate employment in the productive sectors of the economy.
I would turn first to marine safety. The protection of life at sea is my most important responsibility. Over the past year the Government have embarked on the most radical programme of improvements in our marine safety infrastructure since the foundation of the State.
Total spending under marine safety now exceeds £7 million. This represents substantially increased resources for the sector and is clear evidence of the Government's commitment to safety at sea for seafarers and all those who earn their livelihoods on the sea.
The Irish marine emergency service was set up by the Government within my Department in May 1991 following on recommendations of the review group on the air-sea rescue services. The service is responsible for the operational aspects of all types of marine emergency including search and rescue, sea and coastal pollution, shipwreck and casualty response. The service have at their disposal the coast and cliff rescue service and a Sikorsky S6IN helicopter at Shannon, but it also relies heavily on services made available by other parts of the Irish Maritime Search and Rescue Organisation. Helicopters and fast lifeboats are the principal means of carrying out rescues from the sea today.
The Sikorsky S61N has recently flown its 100th mission. Since the Government introduced this service last July, 85 lives have been saved. In 1991 a further 139 rescue missions were undertaken by the rescue services based at Finner and Baldonnell and 54 lives were saved. Good communications and co-ordination are a pre-requisite to effective marine emergency response. The services of the coast radio stations at Valentia and Malin Head, the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Shannon, the volunteer coast and cliff rescue service and the marine radio engineers are to be integrated into the Irish marine emergency service. Three marine rescue sub-centres are to be situated at Valentia and Malin Head coast radio stations and a new sub-centre is to be set up in Dublin. Work has already commenced to implement this structure and the training of the staff is underway. Investment in the marine VHF communications network is now almost complete and an additional VHF station for the Wicklow area should be in operation by the end of the year.
Furthermore, I have announced that in future a report of the investigation into marine accidents will be released and made available to the public. The new policy will apply to the outcome of the investigation into the Kilkenny/ Hasselwerder collision last November and to all subsequent marine accident investigations conducted by my Department, including the inquiry into the accident involving the ro/ro ferry the m.v. Havelet in March this year. I have taken this decision in the interests of maritime safety and in order to allay public concern about such accidents.
With regard to harbour development and coast protection our ports are crucial to our future development particularly as the Single European Market nears completion. Our commercial seaports handled almost £17 billion of Ireland's total external trade of £26 billion in 1990. This figure illustrates the absolute importance of those ports to the future of the Irish economy. In volume terms 97 per cent of our exports go through our ports.
A fast, efficient service with a quicker turnaround time is the key to our exporters competing successfully with European operators. The completion of the Single Market and the resolution of the GATT agreement will bring about a huge increase in trade. Demand for containerised transport alone is expected to double in the next decade. These major changes bring both challenges and opportunities to us. The Government are gearing up to meet these challenges for undertaking a major investment programme involving £69 million for the commerical ports over the years 1989 to 1993. This investment is being funded in part by the EC through the operational programme on peripherality. Projects at the key ports of Cork, Dublin, Rosslare and Waterford and other important local ports have been included in the programme. This investment is enhanced by the transport infrastructure investment on roads and railways.
Capital expenditure by harbour authorities under the aegis of my Department in 1992 will be of the order of £28 million. In addition, a fundamental review of the regulatory framework of all commercial harbours is now almost complete. The purpose of the review is to update the policy and legislation to provide development and a framework to meet the needs of our harbour users today. Before leaving this topic, I would mention Dún Laoghaire Harbour which is an important national public amenity and of particular interests to Deputies.
The Government have given approval in principle to the development plan brought forward by the board under the chairmanship of Professor Dermot McAleese. I have asked the board to report back to me with firm proposals as to how the development plan can be moved forward. I look forward to seeing their proposals. A sum of £1.703 million has been allocated for the operation and maintenance of the harbour in 1992 and a major item of expenditure this year is the provision of a new sewerage scheme,
On coast protection, in 1992 £200,000 is being allocated for the continuation of the capital protection works at Rosslare strand. In addition, the Department will undertake maintenance of a number of schemes, including Rosslare, and continue with planning a scheme for Bray seafront. These are all valuable natural amenities and tourism resorts.
My Department are in the process of establishing priorities, in consultation with local authorities, for the preparation of a long term programme to prevent progressive erosion by the sea.
On marine research, last October, the Government announced the launch of Ireland's operational programme 1991-1993 under STRIDE, Science and Technology for Regional Innovation and Development in Europe. The programme, which is in essence a funding package for the development of Irish natural resources, has as its main component a large marine sub programme.
The marine sub programme of STRIDE has a planned total investment of £8 million. Its focus is the need to build up national capability and expertise in marine science and technology. This will underpin a critical development in the marine sector including the key areas of sea fishing and aquaculture.
STRIDE funding is being spread across the marine centres of expertise in the country, which include my Department's fisheries research centre; the Martin Ryan Marine Science Institute at University College Galway; and the Hydraulics and Coastal Management Laboratory at University College Cork. In addition the upgrading of the national marine research vessel the Lough Beltra, and the establishment of a national marine data centre, are also being assisted.
This timely funding will enable us to create a well equipped marine research and technology base. It is all the more welcome as I finalise my plans for the setting up of the new national marine institute.
On Sea Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, 1992 is a crucial year for the future of the fishing industry. The Common Fisheries Policy is coming to the mid-term review. I am looking for a better deal for Ireland.
My overriding priority is to press Ireland's case for improved allocations of fish stocks. We have a strong case for seeking additional quota allocations. It is based on our low share of stocks in the Community having regard to the large size of our fishing economic zone and also the severely underdeveloped state of the Irish fishing industry.
This year £3.5 million will be spent on improving the fishery harbours infrastructure at strategically located landing places around the coast. The money will be used to finance the continuation or completion of improvement works at Rossaveal, Greencastle, Roundstone and Dingle; up-grading facilities at the fishery harbour centres owned by the Department at Killybegs, Dunmore East, Howth and Castletownbere, as well as the works at Rossaveal; site investigations in preparation for undertaking planned investments at a number of selected harbours and the continuation of the fishery harbour development programme through the commencement of new developments. Investments will take full advantage of EC Structural Funds aid under the operational programme for rural development.
Since becoming Minister I have visited most of the harbours and discussed the major issues with the fishery interests. My Department's development programme for harbours will result in significant job creation in those areas where opportunities for jobs are limited.
Modernisation is essential if the Irish fleet is to survive and develop in the future. Safety is also a major concern, and the modernisation grants will help to improve significantly both the efficiency and seaworthiness of our fleet. In 1991 a total of £1.29 million was approved for fleet modernisation; to date in 1992 grants totalling £1.13 million have been approved.
On improving fish landing facilities the value of a well handled and iced catch, and the premium prices which this type of catch can command, should not be underestimated. Grant-aid for the development of facilities at fishery harbours is available from the European Regional Development Fund under the operational programme for rural development. The estimated total investment in ice plants over the period of the programme will be of the order of £4.5 million, with EC grant-aid totalling £2.25 million. Under the programme ice plant projects have been initiated, or will be undertaken, in the ports of Rossaveal, Castletownbere, Dunmore East, Greencastle, Dingle, Union Hall and Killybegs, with smaller projects at some ten other ports.
As the quantity of fish landings is generally limited because of the constraints of EC quotas, the key to increasing the earnings of skippers and crews lies in improving the quality of the catch. The value of a well handled and iced catch, and the premium prices which this type of catch can command, should not be underestimated.
Training of crew members is vital to vessel efficiency and profitability. This is particularly true in the case of modern fishing vessels which are complex units and can suffer severely from downtime unless expertise is available on board to deal with any technical problems which may occur.
Bord Iascaigh Mhara operate a manpower development programme for fishermen which particularly targets young fishermen working towards command of their own vessels. EC grant-aid of the order of £3 million is expected over the period 1990-1993 to assist with this training.
The processing sector has a great potential for the creation of new jobs. More than 330 new jobs are expected to be created over the next two years in the fish processing and aquaculture industry as a result of planned State-EC backed investment of £17 million.
Under the Community Support Framework approved for the processing sector for the period 1991 to 1993, a Community contribution of £8 million in the form of FEOGA funds has been approved towards the anticipated overall investment of £17 million during that three-year period.
To date FEOGA grants amounting to £3 million have been allocated to nine projects which are expected to generate a total of 148 new jobs in processing.
I have recently approved for submission to Brussels nine further projects involving 185 jobs and FEOGA grants of the order of £3.2 million are likely to be allocated shortly. A third and final operational programme within this current framework will be submitted to the Commission in early 1993 to take up the balance of the Community contribution.
The State's investment in inland fisheries through my Department amounts to £7.59 million in 1992. My Department's responsibility through the agency of the fisheries boards, is to ensure that the stocks and habitat on which this resource depends are protected, conserved and developed for present and future generations.
The fisheries boards need, however, the continued co-operation and vigilance of the angling community and the wider community in their efforts to protect our fisheries from poaching and pollution. The message must be brought home that if we destroy our fisheries we destroy one of the country's greatest natural resources.
Anglers are among the most conscientious conservators of this unique resource. That is why I was delighted to involve them actively in the new trout and coarse fisheries development societies — the "angling co-ops".
The new system is novel both in its structure and approach and it gives anglers a say in the development of the rivers and lakes within their own areas. Those with a wider fishing interest such as hoteliers and fishing tackle dealers can also participate by becoming corporate members of the societies.
The money raised through the co-ops will be matched £1 for £1 by the Government to help the societies get off the ground.
An important feature of the new initiative is that moneys raised will be spent in the local areas to improve the members' fishing facilities. It will also give to anglers a direct say in the developments.
The success of this initiative depends ultimately on the members of the societies, on the willingness of individual anglers to contribute towards the cost of inland fisheries development and on the co-operation between societies and the fisheries boards.
My full support and that of my Department is behind the societies. I look forward to the support of all those committed to the development of trout and coarse fish angling to get this important initiative off to a good start.
We are a maritime people. But our inland waterways are just as valuable and unique — in terms of their potential — for contributing to growth and jobs. We are the custodians of these wonderful resources. We must safeguard them for future generations but we must also, in a balanced way, develop their potential for today's communities who can benefit significantly from the promotion of our inland fisheries.
I commend the Estimate to the House.