We have had very good and helpful interactions in that regard. We have seen many changes already as a result. The broadband action plan, which was announced in the budget in December, relates generally to a pro-competitive environment for telecoms. I can speak about such matters in the absence of Mr. Eamonn Molloy.
The second area in Mr. Molloy's brief is broadcasting. There has been a restructuring of RTE and there have been proposals for a new broadcasting authority Bill, to be produced later this year. The regulatory and normal shareholder-type functions of RTE will be divided. The latter function is that which would exist in a commercial State company. The issue of conflicting roles arose with the BBC recently in the context of the Hutton inquiry. I am also interested in the corporate governance of RTE and priorities such as dealing with inefficiencies, while recognising that RTE has had to deal with challenges. I do not need to remind the Chairman of some of these conflicts, as he has been very engaged with RTE. I will answer any questions that members of the committee would like to ask in this regard.
The liberalisation of the postal sector is a huge challenge. This is particularly true for An Post, which has developed a new plan and will not be in profit this year or next year. An Post has a cost base of about €700 million and a revenue stream of about €650 million. The gap which needs to be bridged represents a major challenge for the company. For the first time, we saw a drop in volumes at the end of last year. This is a demonstration of the impact of electronic issues. There is a recovery plan in that regard.
I am aware that the joint committee intends to deal with energy in more detail. Mr. Martin Brennan, who is an assistant secretary, has responsibility for this area. It is intended to liberalise the markets and to provide for competitive and efficient regulated markets. The challenges are different to those faced in the telecoms sector. The State remains in ownership of the backbone network system. It is intended to liberalise the market - to open it up to full competition - by 2005. Competitors will come in only if they see a rate of return. Electricity charges remained static for almost 15 years in the past. There was a slowdown in investment. There was very little investment in the networks. We have seen a massive investment, of over €1 billion per year, in recent years. This will help to position us going forward. There has been major shift in our emphasis on the movement towards sustainable and renewable energy. We have to ensure that such forms of energy are developed in a timely manner.
A huge issue in the energy sector is meeting our Kyoto obligations in a way that imposes the least cost on the system, while helping our competitiveness. This is not an easy challenge. We can speak about this matter if the joint committee wishes. The Lisbon agenda is aspirational, but Europe has done what Russia, America and China failed to by signing up to the Kyoto Protocol. The cost to competitiveness of going it alone is a huge issue for Europe.
Mr. Maurice Mullen is the assistant secretary with responsibility for maritime safety. Our aims in this regard relate to safety standards and preventing, as far as possible, the loss of life. We are trying to establish an effective coastguard and monitoring system. The joint committee has discussed certain incidents, such as that in Donegal and the sinking of the Prestige. The fact that we seem to have handled such issues well, by comparison to the international experience, is a great credit to the system. There are huge issues in this regard. There are new safety regulations. A new passenger vessel enforcement regime was introduced in 2003. New life jacket regulations are in place. Such developments might sound simple, but they are hugely important as part of efforts to save lives.
The Department is keen to safeguard the quality of the marine environment. It is intended to phase out single hull oil tankers in EU waters. A draft directive on sanctions for vessel owners who pollute EU waters is being brokered by the Irish Presidency. Certain heavy oil products are being banned from EU waters.
Mr. Michael Guilfoyle is the assistant secretary with responsibility for the maritime transport access ports. Some of the port companies throughout the country are State-owned, but others are privately owned. Given that over 90% of all goods coming into the country come through the ports, we need to examine how to make them efficient and how to ensure that they meet our needs. The ports have to be part of the full international transport chain. The Minister will publish this year a comprehensive statement on the ports policy framework.
We would like to oversee the transfer, to alternative uses under local control, of those remaining regional ports and harbours which do not form part of the national maritime transport system. This will be done under the Harbours Act 1996. We hope to transfer smaller ports throughout the country to local authorities. We are working with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to make such ports more responsive to local needs.
We would like to expand Irish-based ship ownership and ship management and to increase Irish seafarer employment. The Department is working with the Irish Maritime Development Organisation, which is based with the Marine Institute, in this regard. We are assessing the entire maritime sector and helping to fund a port management programme at the National College of Ireland. There will be opportunities in this regard in the future.
We need to examine the opportunities that exist in respect of marine tourism and leisure. We are working closely with the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism in this regard, for example on marina projects. We have asked the Marine Institute to produce a new strategy to facilitate marine leisure participation.
Marine research is conducted mainly by the Marine Institute. We are bringing forward proposals in 2004 on a new research, development and innovation strategy for our marine area. The strategy is being developed by the Marine Institute. I am sure the joint committee will be eager to address this issue at some stage.
Professor Cecil Beamish, who has addressed the joint committee on many occasions, is responsible for the area of coastal zone management. The Department intends to support and manage the sustainable use and development of our marine territory. It is committed to effective licensing and regulation of aquaculture, for example. The committee has debated this matter with various interested parties. We realise that there is a potential for conflict between the development and regulatory roles and we will respond to some of these issues this year. We are finalising the arrangements for the monitoring and enforcement of marine finfish aquaculture. The review of the Foreshore Acts is under way and legislative proposals will emerge in that regard, if necessary.
We are considering the challenges of integrated coastal zone management. There is coastal erosion in parts of the country. We are bringing forward a strategy to deal with what may be an expensive and long-term problem. The Dumping at Sea (Amendment) Bill will enhance the regulation of dumping at sea.
The Department wishes to increase the long-term contribution of the seafood sector to the economy of coastal regions. It is important that we develop this industry, which cannot move because it depends on its location. This is an important issue in peripheral and coastal areas. It is generally accepted that the Minister and his team were very successful when they attended the Common Fisheries Policy negotiations last year. We worked very closely with the industry in that regard.
A key priority of the Department is resource conservation. A new biologically sensitive area is being created around Ireland and various stock recovery plans have been agreed or are being discussed. The joint committee will recall some of the changes we brought about last year in respect of fishery harbour centre fees. This work was necessary from the point of view of the fund that was there. We have started to announce new programmes of investment in fishery harbours. The Minister recently announced arrangements for a new harbour at Castletownbere.
We support the sustainable development of aquaculture in the coastal regions. The development of the industry will involve a quantum change from the present position. There will be a long-term strategy to develop the fishing sector in a sustainable way. The ideas of conservation and development are linked in this regard. There should be an emphasis on sustainable fishing, as opposed to the traditional exploitation of fish, during Ireland's EU Presidency. An independent governing authority for the licensing and registration of sea fishing boats was established last year. We are trying to ensure the efficient management of the fishing fleet capacity.
The engineering section of the Department deals with coastal management, harbours and inland fisheries, matters which come under the responsibility of Mr. Michael Guilfoyle. We wish to conserve the inland fisheries as a viable resource which makes economic and social contributions at national and local levels. We will take a further step in the conservation of our salmon and sea trout stock this year by aligning the total allowable catch of salmonids based on objective scientific advice. We should be fully up to speed on that by next year. A new strategy is being proposed to support the organisational framework for the organisational fisheries sector in 2004. The committee has seen some of the interactions involved and participated in discussions on it.
I move now to natural resources and to mining and exploration. The market internationally is depressed and it is a time of greater emphasis on environmental issues. Recently, the committee was examining the problems of a former mine in Tipperary and could see the difficulties which have resulted from the lack of controls in place during its operation. We are now trying to ensure that exploration and mining development is carried out in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. Dealing with abandoned mines is not easy. The development of the Corrib gas field has returned to planning stage and will go through the process. We have not been lucky in developing the resources around our coast. Despite a great deal of exploration, we have not had a major success in terms of geology and strikes.
The Geological Survey of Ireland has completed the nation-wide bedrock map series and, with the Marine Institute, has carried out a national sea-bed survey. The agency is working to digitise its various products and make them available. Another key job of the agency involves groundwater protection schemes for different counties, which is very important. There is tremendous expertise in the GSI and great credit is due to the agency for developing that approach.
The Department has faced organisational challenges. Pulling together the different elements of the Department into a single unit has been the work of a year and a half. We feel we are moving ahead and we have begun to develop a new agenda and a new culture. We have signed off on Sustaining Progress and the modernisation and change agendas. We have ideas about establishing the mines safety directors as an agency. Initially, the agency will be within the Department, but it is possible it will move outside in the future. We have similar ideas about some elements of the Department's fishing and seafood sections. Decentralisation represents a great challenge for us, particularly in terms of continuity. We are developing a knowledge management system to capture the knowledge we have before any changes are made and there is movement of people. We are developing a new financial management system, a management information framework and we have emphasised the use of ICT and the Internet.
The question of how to measure performance in a Department like ours arises. We have spent time developing key performance indicators with our divisions. Obviously, the committee will be interested in these. Certainly, we are interested in them from a management perspective. Our intention is to integrate the indicators into business planning and our statement of strategy and to publish them in our annual report.
