I thank both Deputies for their questions. It is not quite correct to say, as Deputy Dukes did, that there are six areas where programmes did not get off the ground. It is true in some cases and I will outline what happened in each.
The aquaculture programme is up and running. It was launched in February 2001 and the grant aid approved to date amounts to €8.8 million for ten projects in the southern and eastern regions and 22 in the Border, midland and western regions. The programme is continuing apace and is proving to be very successful.
We only received EU clearance for the angling measure in December because it was linked to the overall tourist measure. I am about to launch the measure, which has been delayed for a combination of reasons, not least the fact that I was concerned about the structure of the inland fisheries organisation. The personnel review has recently been completed and I was anxious that it would be available throughout the central and regional boards. We have looked at the structure of the boards, particularly the central board which has a north Dublin location. Given those issues, the need for some restructuring in the inland fisheries area and the need to get value for money in the programme, we wanted to get a number of things absolutely right before going ahead with this scheme. I am now satisfied that those issues have been dealt with and we will be announcing the scheme in the next couple of weeks.
There were two schemes in the forestry programme - the neighbourhood scheme and the native woodland scheme - which were launched in the autumn, but no expenditure took place in 2001 because it was simply too late for the schemes to incur costs. However, the schemes are now up and running, there is significant interest in them and we see no difficulty with the expenditure of the money involved.
It is not correct to say that the marine emergency programme has not been progressed. Its main element, which did not take place, was the emergency towing vessel project. That did not proceed because we could not acquire the kind of vessel needed to provide the required level of service, which would also be value for money. We have now come up with a proposal involving the use of a number of privately-owned towing vessels in various coastal locations which we hope will provide an emergency towing facility at a fraction of the cost of getting a dedicated vessel. That is part of the reason we did not spend that money in 2001.
The Malin Head matter was mentioned and planning permission has been granted for an extension. We are proceeding with the project, which was dependent on the study carried out by Deloitte & Touche. The study has been completed and, as the Deputy is aware, we have established a new safety directorate. We have, for the first time ever, appointed an assistant secretary to that position and provided increased powers and resources. Consequently, we are satisfied that safety will receive a much higher priority than before.
The reason we could not utilise the Air Corps in respect of the Waterford helicopter project was that it simply did not have the equipment to provide the service demanded. An excellent private sector service is provided for the west coast from Shannon and it is very efficient and cost effective. We would all like to see the Air Corps providing as much of the required search and rescue services as possible with the new equipment that is to come on stream and that is certainly an objective of ours into the future. However, we are very happy with the quality of the service operating off the west coast, which cost-benefit analysis shows to be very effective. Consequently, we went ahead with the same provision for Waterford and we are satisfied that we will get an exceptionally good and cost effective service. That service is one we have been anxious to have up and running for some time and it will fill the gap that has existed off the south coast.
While it is correct that no development has taken place in respect of seafood processing, I will announce the new programme for the sector in the next two weeks or thereabouts. We deliberately delayed the scheme for the simple reason that we needed to respond to the Indecon report by Alan Gray, one of the first reports to come across my desk when I came into the Department, which called for fundamental and radical change in the industry. Putting together the programme involved a considerable amount of soul searching about whether to continue down the route of supporting a small and disparate processing industry which, by and large, had not moved on and was not using the kind of technology and food science one finds in modern food processing in other sectors.
Consequently, it was necessary to bring together Enterprise Ireland, BIM, Údarás na Gaeltachta and the Department to examine the kind of fundamental changes called for in the industry. We also had considerable discussion with the industry. I am fully aware that many people, as Deputy Dukes pointed out, are waiting for the programme to be announced. Many of them will be disappointed when it is announced because it will call for quite radical change. We cannot continue to support small companies which are replacing equipment to continue in much the same way as in the past. We must rationalise the sector and bring about the kind of new technology that exists in other parts of the world. We need to bring our seafood product from a very low level of quality to a much higher level and embrace new developments in biotechnology and other areas as they relate to seafood.
As we are far behind our counterparts in the agriculture sector, an area with which the Deputy is very familiar, it will be necessary to use the money provided under this heading very advisedly to bring about rationalisation and the merger of many of the small companies that will not survive without radical and fundamental change. I have no regrets about delaying the programme. When we announce it in the next week or two we will have got it right. As part of it, applications will be considered jointly by Enterprise Ireland, BIM and Údarás na Gaeltachta, three State agencies which are co-operating in this sector. It is also vitally important that we utilise existing agencies in a co-ordinated manner.
It would have been very easy to have done a quick job by introducing the measure earlier and to have responded positively to the considerable number of applications for extra freezing capacity, additional primary processing facilities and so on. Although funding for such measures is not ruled out, we want greater use of technology in order that we arrive at a position in which a much higher value is added to this declining resource. This will require a series of measures which have been foreign to the industry until now. I am most anxious to get it right because we have only one chance to turn the industry around. I am happy to discuss the matter further with the Deputy after we have launched the programme.
In respect of the consultancy fees, I am happy to circulate to Deputies a full breakdown of the consultancy work carried out in the Department and the costs involved. There has been very significant consultancy work in exploration and mining, petroleum affairs, maritime transport, coastal zone management, marine safety and the environment, the audit section and reviews of forestry and the commercial ports. All this work is crucially important in terms of advising the Department and the industry generally on the way forward in the light of the very changed circumstances in many industries.
With regard to the capital works outlined by the Deputy, we will announce the details of the overall programme shortly. The three main projects will take up the vast bulk of resources. The Killybegs project, for example, for which we hope to sign the contract in the next couple of weeks, will cost more than €40 million. We will also be in a position to give details of many of the smaller projects, all of which are costed and have been allocation funds. The detailed Estimate will set out the specific amounts of money which it is proposed to spend this year on each of them.
One of the major difficulties with major capital works in marine infrastructure is their very complicated nature, the long lead in for planning due to the very unusual nature of the work involved and, more recently, the introduction of complicated new planning requirements such as environmental impact statements. Consequently, delays have been experienced with the Killybegs project, for example, in the planning process for years. However, the various projects are now progressing well and we have no problems spending the money allocated to us.
The Deputy asked the Department to remove the vessel in Clogherhead harbour and send the bill to Louth County Council. I wish it was that simple. Unfortunately, the matter is the responsibility of the local authority. It must spend the money. We have tried to co-operate with Louth County Council by offering to make a contribution towards moving the vessel which, I accept, is causing major difficulties and I am prepared to approach the council again to see if we can proceed to get the job done.
As the Deputy stated, the Loran C project appears to have been abandoned due to the decision by Germany and Norway to withdraw. We made a very serious attempt to find an alternative site and were progressing quite well when the news of their withdrawal came through. The number of users of the system has declined and there is no question that it will be overtaken by technology. With the US satellite defence control system improving, it appears that all countries intend to opt for a GPS system and Loran C will, therefore, shortly become obsolete.
There is no reason inland marinas cannot be included in the tourism programme. We have not ruled them out. One of the difficulties is that the amount of money provided in the heading will be more than taken up by the infrastructure on the coastline. We were anxious not to create huge demand and then find we simply did not have the money. We have concentrated largely on marina infrastructure on the coastline. There is very significant potential in this area, which has not been exploited until now.
If there are inland marinas that appear to offer value for money, we have no difficulty in looking at them. The amount of money under this subhead will be more than spoken for in terms of the number of marina developments to be built around the coast.
Provision for coastal protection is down this year. We had to take a hit in some areas because of the need to curtail our expenditure programme, in respect of which Deputy Dukes and I are at one.