Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 17 Oct 1995

Vol. 457 No. 1

Written Answers. - Aquaculture Products.

Michael Smith

Question:

44 Mr. M. Smith asked the Minister for the Marine the action, if any, he proposes to undertake in order to increase the level of exports of mariculture products and underpin existing and potential employment levels in the industry. [14992/95]

Minister for the Marine (Mr. Barrett)

Aquaculture offers important development opportunities for those coastal regions with few, if any, alternative prospects for employment. It is still a relatively young industry in Irish terms but has grown quickly in the last 15 years to where it now accounts for 25 per cent of the value of our total fish production. Over one thousand people are employed full time in aquaculture with a further three thousand in part time jobs. Total output was valued at approximately £50 million in 1994. BIM and Údarás na Gaeltachta are the agencies charged with developing the sector.

Some 80 per cent of Irish aquaculture production is exported and has a high quality reputation. The strategic objective over the medium term is to build on our strengths and success to date, over-come competitive constraints and address the ongoing challenges of quality, scale and peripherality.

Further growth in traditional as well as new niche markets is an achievable objective and I am committed to working with the agencies and the industry to maximise the undoubted potential. The continued expansion of primary production and market development is being supported under an investment programme of some £40 million, over the period 1994-1999. This is designed to support sustainable expansion of aquaculture output, productivity and jobs and to meet the growing need for raw material for the expanding processing sector. The objective is to more than double output by 1999 and to increase total value of fish exports, including aquaculture products, from £186 million to £276 million by 1999.

A strategic fully integrated approach to market development and promotion is critical to achieving further export growth. The export market programme focuses on increasing the penetration of seafood markets both inside and outside the EU. Programmes are also geared to increasing the consumption of seafood on the home market.

There is considerable potential for market growth. The EU, after all, is a net importer of fish products. A competitive, efficient, high quality Irish aquaculture and fish processing industry will ensure that we are well placed to capitalise on those opportunities. Present strategies are geared to achieving that growth potential and will be kept under constant review.