I want to clear a few points. The Minister will move Vote 37. The discussion will cover both Votes—Fisheries and Forestry. There will be a full debate on both Votes, but at the end we can have separate decisions on the Votes. There is no limit to the opening speech of the Minister. The first speaker from a group, that is, from both parties in Opposition, will have one-and-a-half hours. All other speakers to the debate will have one hour.
Vote 37: Fisheries.
I move:
That a sum not exceeding £11,045,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31 day of December, 1978, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Fisheries, including sundry grants-in-aid.
The amount sought represents a net increase of £2,904,000 on last year's figure. This overall increase is due mainly to an increase of £783,000 for main fishery harbour works, an increase of £528,000 in the grant-in-aid to An Bord Iascaigh Mhara for administration and current development, an increase of £494,000 in the grant-in-aid to An Bord Iascaigh Mhara for capital development, an increase of £394,000 for inland fisheries development, an increase of £144,000 in the grant-in-aid for the Inland Fisheries Trust, and the provision of £300,000 as part of the cost of replacing the fishery research vessel Cu Feasa which had to be taken out of service in 1976 due to its poor condition arising from normal depreciation over many years' service Other lesser increases include £143,000 for salaries, wages and allowances, £26,000 for Post Office services, and £21,000 for the provision of specialised teaching equipment at the National Fishery School.
The general pattern in relation to sea-fisheries is that while, in recent times, landings have been virtually static at the same time value has increased very considerably due to the increase in unit price.
Landings of sea fish, excluding salmon valued at £3,289,054, in 1976 amounted to £12,864,000 as against £9,135,000 in 1975. The corresponding quantities were 80,663 tonnes and 76,261 tonnes, so that although the quantity landed in 1976 was only marginally more than that for the previous year the fishermen gained an increase in income of over 40 per cent. There was a fall in the landings of herrings from 28,808 tonnes in 1975 to 22,012 tonnes in 1976, but the decrease in value from £3,231,710 to £3,133,000 was only somewhat over 3 per cent. The statistics available to date for 1977 cover nine months to 30 September and these show the value of landings for that period as £11,700,000 as against £7,835,000 for the corresponding period in 1976, an increase of 49 per cent. The quantities landed for the first nine months of 1977 amounted to 43,602 tonnes compared with 44,373 tonnes for the corresponding period in 1976. The value of exports of all fish and fish products in 1976 was £19,684,941 as compared with £13,646,780 in 1975, an increase of 44 per cent. Taking into account revenue of approximately £17 million from angling tourism, the total external income attributable to our fisheries amounted to almost £36,700,000 in 1976.
In 1976 there were 2,495 full-time and 4,898 part-time fishermen. The total number of boats was 2,462, of which 819 were engaged in fishing throughout the year.
The development of the Irish sea fishing industry in recent years has resulted in the addition to the fleet of modern trawlers with sophisticated technical equipment. This in turn creates a demand for skilled men to command and crew the fishing fleet. The need to meet this demand is being given constant attention in my Department. To that end the National Fishery School at Greencastle, County Donegal, which is designed specially to meet the training requirements of the fishing industry, is owned and operated by my Department. Full-time courses extending over 12 months, of which five months are spent at the school followed by seven months' practical training at sea on board selected fishing boats, are provided by the Department twice yearly to boys, aged about 16 to 18 years, wishing to take up sea fishing as a career. Each course is advertised and I am glad to say that the response is good. Eight courses for boys were held since the National Fishery School was opened in 1974.
As well, two full-time courses of about ten to 12 weeks' duration are provided each year at the school to enable experienced fisherman to prepare for examination for skippers' certificates issued by the Department of Tourism and Transport. There appears to be a reluctance on the part of experienced fishermen to avail of these very desirable courses and I take this opportunity to urge experienced fishermen who are interested in acquiring their own boats to consider participating in these skippers' training courses.
I must say that I am not satisfied that our existing training facilities have kept pace with the development of technical equipment on fishing boats. There now appears to be a need for more advanced training techniques, especially for potential skippers of the new and larger vessels. I have accordingly arranged for a complete review of our existing training programme by my Department, in consultation with An Bord Iascaigh Mhara, to see what expansion of this programme is necessary.
Since 1968 Fish Quality Regulations have been in force in respect of demersal varieties. The regulations prescribe procedures and requirements for the proper handling, storing and transport of demersal fish so as to ensure that only fish of the highest quality reach both our home and export markets. At present my Department are considering, in consultation with the interests concerned, draft regulations for all varieties of sea-fish, including shellfish. In addition, existing procedures for the licensing of fish and fish products for the export market are being reviewed with a view to compliance with forthcoming international standards for fish and fish products offered for sale on the home as well as export markets.
Although the establishment of fish processing plants or the expansion of existing plants is a matter in the first instance for private enterprise, it has been since 1962 an integral part of the ongoing overall plan for the expansion of the sea fishing industry to encourage, assist and maximise entrepreneurial endeavour in this sector.
BIM's marketing expertise is available to assess the viability of the applicant's proposals in each case, assessment of markets for particular products and the establishment of trade contracts and so on.
The Department co-ordinate the grant-aiding activities of the IDA and Gaeltarra Éireann in the fisheries sector and all grant applications are screened by the Department so that they are integrated into the overall plan.
In the period 1962 to date, grants actually paid for fish processing from Irish Government sources have totalled more than £3 million most of which was paid since 1970. Applications for additional processing projects entail a further current commitment of £3 million from the Irish Exchequer. EEC funds have already been approved for most of these cases.
In 1977 a total of 42 applications— 29 new projects and 13 extension projects—for financial assistance were received by the grant agencies compared with a total of 33—23 new, ten extensions—for the whole of 1976.
While the scale of future expansion will naturally be influenced by the outcome of negotiations for a common fisheries policy, it would appear to be a measure of confidence by the trade that the increase in grant applications in 1977 over 1976 occurred in the latter half of 1977.
Working conditions for the scientific section of Fisheries have been greatly improved by the provision of a new Fisheries Research Centre at Abbots-town, County Dublin, which has replaced the inadequate and unsatisfactory accommodation at Cathal Brugha Street. The new centre has been equipped with modern sophisticated appliances which will be further augmented during the year. A new field station was completed at Castletownbere during the year and proposals for other field stations at Ballyglass, County Mayo, Kinsale, County Cork and Dunmore East, County Waterford, are being considered.
The grant-in-aid to an Bord Iascaigh Mhara for 1978 for administration and current development amounts to £3,103,000 and the grant-in-aid for capital development amounts to £2,847,000. The total of £5,950,000 represents an increase of £1,022,000 on last year's figure. In addition to these grants-in-aid, repayable advances are made to the board out of the Central Fund, mainly to enable the board to give loans to fishermen for the purchase of boats and gear. The total amount of these advances authorised for 1978 is £3,700,000. Taking into account a sum estimated at £600,000 to be ploughed back by the board into the industry, the board have at their disposal under the public capital programme for the current year funds to the amount of over £7 million. As well, a line of credit is available from Irish banks to meet the demands by fishermen for loans for boats. Drawings from this source are estimated at £4.5 million for the current year. Many of these boats will of course be built in the board's three years which employ about 300 workers.
Debate adjourned.
Business suspended at 1.30 p.m. and resumed at 2.30 p.m.