This Bill deals with five different centres that have been passed where major catches of fish would be landed around the coast of Ireland and particularly with Rossaveal in County Galway. The Minister rightly said that fishermen fishing into Rossaveal would save a lot of time and fuel if it were made the major port instead of Galway. I welcomed this and said it was about time it was nominated as one of the top five ports in the country. Neither the Minister nor I have anything against the port of Galway, but Galway is that little bit too far inland and is a city. I do not think fish could move as freely out of Galway as we hope they will do out of Rossaveel.
I asked the Minister the last day if he would tell the House if the new harbour board for Rossaveel has been nominated and, if so, who the members are. If it has not the Minister should take into account the fishermen, the co-operative movement in the area and someone who would deal with the expectations we have regarding the oil rigs. It is only fair to state that we expect there will be major oil fields off Rossaveel. They should have some say in this harbour. It is important that the fishermen should nominate somebody to the board and that the co-operative movement in the area should have a nominee. I suggest also that people from the Aran Islands should have a nominee. I am sure the Minister has given thought to nominees from Government Departments such as the Department of the Gaeltacht, the Department of the Environment, the Department of Fisheries and so on, but these other sectors should also have a voice on the board.
Rossaveel, as far as oil is concerned, could become one of the greatest ports in decades. If, as expected, there is a lot of oil off the west coast, Rossaveel seems to be in the centre and we want to safeguard their interests as well as fishermen's interests. I visited Rossaveel a few months ago and a lot of development has taken place there recently. I do not know if the Minister has visited it and, if not, I suggest he does so. A lot more development is needed in this harbour. I should like the Minister to tell us how much money has been allocated for this harbour in the next few years, when the work will commence and when it is hoped to complete it. An extension to the harbour is needed at present, and there are a lot of rocks in the entrance which need to be taken away. Part of the entrance needs to be dredged to make it a feasible major harbour.
When we talk about one of the top five harbours in the country it is worth remembering that within the next few months we will be talking about boats over 100 feet coming into harbours like Killybegs and Rossaveel. Now is the time not just to plan but to see that the plans are executed. The greatest fault with the Department of Fisheries is that we hear plenty about plans but little about action. For whatever plan there is money should be made available immediately and the work should be started and finished as soon as possible, if we are sincere about making Rossaveel one of our five major ports. One thing that strikes one going to Rossaveel is the deplorable state of the roads. They are worse than the road to Killybegs. If we are serious about processing more fish and setting up more plants for that purpose we should be prepared to cater for many more juggernauts on those roads. The road leading to Rossaveel harbour is not suitable for big lorries that can be expected to travel on it.
In line with the development of the harbours I hope the Minister proposes to develop the roads leading to them. The last three or four miles from Galway to Rossaveal is certainly in need of repair. Two big lorries are not able to pass each other on that road. In my view the Department of Fisheries should be working in conjunction with the Department of Energy in relation to the development of our harbours. I should like to know if the Department of Energy has been asked to subscribe any money to the development of Rossaveel to cater for our fishermen and those involved in oil exploration. Has the Department of Energy been asked to subscribe any money for the back-up services needed at that port? I have been told that the Department is committed to spending £5 million on Rossaveel and I should like to know if that information is correct. I should like to know if that figure is the £5 million allotted for the development of all our ports this year.
It is worth remembering that Denmark, which has a population just double oúrs, spend in the region of £15 million annually on the development of their harbours, slips and piers. We should be thinking of spending a lot more annually on the development of our harbour and berthing facilities and our fish processing plants. Until there is a firm commitment and determination by the Minister to do this work, every day we speak about it and do nothing is another day wasted. Our five major ports are Howth, Dunmore East, Killybegs, Castletownbere and Rossaveel and I should like to know if it is too late to add a sixth port to that list. It should be remembered that there is no major port between Castletownbere and Rossaveel and it is amazing that a place like Dingle was not developed properly. The Minister should give us his reason why Dingle was not considered for major development.
We have been talking for many years about an auction hall and a syncro lift at Killybegs. I recall that five years ago they were promised to Killybegs. We have had promises for years but a brick has not been laid yet. I understand that the Minister has been giving some thought to restricting the hours of auctions at our ports. A restriction of those hours would be a backward step. When dealing with fishermen we must remember that we are not dealing with people whose hours are restricted to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and auction halls that close up at 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. We are dealing with people who cannot say when they will return home. At times they return at midnight but on occasions they do not return until the early hours of the morning. It would be to the benefit of the entire industry if it was left to those involved to decide on the hours to operate the auctions. Naturally, if there are no fish available the auction halls will not open but when there are fish in the ports we must be realistic enough to permit the auction halls to open. It should be left to the people running the auctions to decide on the hours. Those involved in running other auctions only hold them when they have objects to dispose of. I hope the Minister is not considering restricting the hours of fish auction halls.
I realise that there are major development plans for Howth. The middle pier, however, needs to be replaced urgently. I am bearing in mind that most of the major development plans will not take place for about 18 months but that pier should be replaced before that. I am pleased to note that at last a premises has been given to the fishermen in Dunmore East. When I visited that port recently the fishermen told me that they were not happy because the harbour there needs to be dredged urgently. We cannot expect some of the super ships to go to Dunmore East unless the harbour is properly dredged. The same applies to Burtonport in County Donegal. For up to seven years Deputies on all sides have been asking different Ministers to dredge that harbour but nothing has happened. If we are serious about the fishing industry we must spend money to provide the proper facilities to our fishermen.
I realise that major development work is in progress at Castletownbere. I hope to visit that port shortly and I am anxious to meet all the fishermen who use that port. I am anxious to learn of their problems. As I told the Minister last night, when he visits Killybegs on Saturday night, even though his visit is for a political dinner-dance, he should make arrangements to meet the different fishing interests. The Minister is aware that Killybegs is the major fishing port in the country and it is strange to think that he has not made arrangements to meet the different organisations operating from that port. As I tour around the ports I hope to meet local fishermen and listen to their problems. If the Minister did something similar he would be in a position to make up his own mind as to what should be done for the future of the industry.
Some pressure has been exerted recently on the Minister to see to it that the Bulgarian boats are not withdrawn from Donegal Bay. Before the Minister reaches a decision in relation to this he should consider carefully the people who benefit from the presence of those boats in Donegal Bay. He should bear in mind that before those boats arrived the fishermen were getting 11p per lb. for their herring but today they get in the region of 22p per lb. That shows that local fishermen have benefited from the competition. Deputy Deasy has just informed me that the figures should have been £22 per box, but it is the same thing. Surely we all agree that what fishermen and the fishing industry need is more competition, more processing, more markets abroad and, eventually, a better price for our fish.
The Minister must have been as distressed as I was last week when he told me that £6 million worth of fish is being imported back into the country. We must be all concerned about that when we realise that it is estimated we are exporting £36 million and £40 million worth of fish per annum and importing back about one-sixth of our total export. There is something wrong with the fishing industry when we are not processing that fish at home. Top priority at present must go to markets abroad and secondly to processing our fish within our shores. Until we deal with these matters we are bound to have gluts and shortages, high prices and low prices. We should endeavour to see that there is a constant supply of fish and that we have permanent markets in which we can sell them.
I noticed a heading in this morning's Irish Press:“Fishing Laws Challenged in Luxembourg”. The article states:
The Government's right to legislation on fishing activities in Irish waters, and to impose a fine if these laws are broken is being challenged in the European Court in Luxembourg.
The important thing it goes on to say is this:
The case has been referred to the European Court by the Co. Cork Circuit Court, which has asked Luxembourg to rule whether a conviction under Irish law for the fishing offence was contrary to EEC law.
I mention this because it is very important that we should be able to define exactly our fishing rights. I do not want to hark back but even now I would insist that when the Minister talks to his partners in Brussels there must be a major distinction between our Irish fishing rights and the EEC fishing waters. Last year we saw in Deputy Deasy's area that the south-east fishermen were not allowed to fish for herring in their own area. We could come up against this again. It is rumoured that the Celtic Sea may be opened next September. If it is, and if we have all the EEC boats descending on the Celtic Sea it is only a matter of time before the entire Celtic Sea will be closed again because of overfishing.
We must come back to a limit even if it is only 20 or 25 miles. We must have an exclusive limit for Irish fishing waters. Outside that you can then talk about EEC waters. It has been proved by questions in this House that when we ask about quotas we can get the information as regards Irish quotas but we cannot get information as regards EEC quotas. So long as quotas are concerned and so long as you have foreign fishermen fishing in Irish waters we will not get a true position in regard to quotas. The fight that the Minister must take on his shoulders when he goes to the EEC fishing council is to secure first an exclusive zone for Irish fishermen. After that we can talk of EEC waters.
I should like to say one more thing, and I do so with all respect. I was disgusted last night by the Minister's performance as Minister for Fisheries and I hope we shall never see such a display again from a senior Minister. I expect the Minister for Fisheries to lead and act responsibly and not have, as we had last night, the Minister and another Deputy mudslinging at each other across the House. The fishing industry demands a responsible Minister. It needs a constructive approach because there are challenging times ahead and unless we have that approach it is the industry that will suffer.