I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with special responsibility for fisheries, Deputy Tony Killeen, and his officials. I ask the Minister to make his opening statement.
Bord Bia (Transfer of An Bord Iascaigh Mhara relating to Fish Marketing) Order 2009: Motion.
I am pleased to present the draft order to transfer the seafood marketing functions of Bord Iascaigh Mhara to Bord Bia. The order is being made under section 9(2) of the An Bord Bia Act 1994, which enables the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to assign to the board of Bord Bia such powers and responsibilities for the exercise of any function, being a function relating to the marketing of food, as the order may prescribe. Section 9 of the An Bord Bia Act provides that any proposal to make such an order shall be laid before each House and shall not be made until a resolution approving the draft has been passed by each House of the Oireachtas. Accordingly, a draft of the order was laid before Dáil Éireann on 1 May 2009 and before Seanad Éireann on the same day.
The Government's initiative in transferring the seafood marketing and promotion functions to Bord Bia will ensure the strengthening of seafood marketing as part of a more cohesive overall food marketing effort, while allowing BIM to focus all its energies in developing the seafood industry in line with the Cawley strategy – Steering A New Course. BIM is retaining non-marketing and promotion functions, including business development and intelligence, product development, trade and supply chain management.
The order comprises six articles. Article 1 contains the citation and operational date. It is the intention, subject to approval, that the order will take effect from 1 June this year. "Fish" is defined in Article 2 as fish, including shellfish, whether fresh or processed. Article 3 confers the marketing function of BIM on Bord Bia. These functions are contained within section 15 of the Sea Fisheries Act 1952. The functions being transferred are in effect seafood promotion, international marketing and the overseas offices. Article 4 requires Bord Iascaigh Mhara to designate the staff for transfer. This accords with section 9(2) of the An Bord Bia Act. Articles 5 and 6 are standard provisions to guarantee that the conditions, including superannuation, of staff designated for transfer shall will be on terms no less favourable than they enjoy currently.
The integration of seafood marketing into Bord Bia will deliver opportunities for seafood producers where Bord Bia can draw on its expertise in the food sector to identify key future trends and opportunities for growth while pre-empting and reacting to market competitors and global changes. Consultations have been ongoing between the two agencies through a joint steering group to cover all areas of the transfer. The objective is to achieve a detailed inter-agency performance agreement by 1 June with the purpose of achieving a smooth transfer of services as well as continued collaboration to maximise growth and opportunities for the Irish seafood industry.
I commend this draft order to the committee.
I welcome the Minister of State and his officials. I agree with this proposal. It makes sense to have a single agency marketing Irish food. How assured is the Minister of State that the seafood sector will have an adequate budget that is ring-fenced within the Bord Bia structure to ensure that sector will get a fair crack of the whip? Bord Bia is operating with a reduced budget for 2009, although it has received a supplementary amount of €2.5 million, which arises substantially from the pork dioxin scandal. It is good that consumption patterns are returning to the levels that obtained before the dioxin contamination. Will the Minister of State assure the committee that the seafood sector will have an adequate budget and policy platform within Bord Bia? It is a new venture for the agency. How many staff are being transferred from BIM to Bord Bia?
On a related matter, which I believe it is fair to raise, how does this fit in with the proposal to decentralise BIM? The Minister will be aware it is proposed that staff in BIM relocate to Clonakilty. My information is that few, if any, staff have already relocated. Is that decentralisation project still a Government policy commitment? What is the level of interest among BIM staff in relocating? How much money has been spent to date — I am reluctant to say wasted — on procuring offices and making the arrangements for a botched proposal to decentralise, on which staff were not consulted? With the exception of a handful, there appears to be practically no interest among staff in relocating. What is the standing of the decentralisation proposal given the transfer of some functions from BIM to Bord Bia?
I welcome the proposal that the marketing functions relating to seafood be transferred to Bord Bia. It is timely. There is huge potential for creating jobs in the seafood sector, as the Minister of State is well aware. This is a step in the right direction. The proper marketing of a product is very important and Bord Bia is in position to do it best. I look forward to this matter working well and I hope the fishing industry in general will take advantage of it. As I said, there is huge potential that we have not tapped into in the past. It is important to do something in regard to that sector in future.
I also wish to welcome the Minister of State and his officials here. I am glad to see that all sides are in favour of this transfer of functions. Bord Iascaigh Mhara has been a household name since I was a child and it has done good work. I am delighted that it has now been transferred to Bord Bia. It is timely to reshape, remodel and re-equip such agencies to be 100% active in promoting the sale of Irish food and raw materials. I wish them well in that respect. I was in favour of decentralisation because many parts of the country needed industries and it was not right to have everything planned in Dublin. There was a full take up of the decentralisation programme in my county in Tipperary town, but I am disappointed that there has not been a full take up in some areas. However, the Government must make decisions which should be followed through and there should not be so much prevarication. I hope it works out in Clonakilty and I wish the project well.
A number of questions have arisen and the principal one from Deputy Creed is how assured we are that there are adequate structures and a budget for this transfer. I am confident that the transfer of marketing functions to Bord Bia will be successful. It will provide the kind of boost for the fishing industry that all of us on all sides of the House wish to see. I am happy that the budget is available to do so. Some eight staff are to be transferred — the trade marketing European executive, the French market adviser, the Spanish market adviser, the German market adviser, the German market officer, the consumer promotion officer, the international trade and market development adviser, and an administrator.
As regards the question on decentralisation, Deputies will be aware that the Department's fisheries sector is already in Clonakilty, as is the sea fisheries protection office. They are both currently in rented buildings but are in the process of being transferred to the permanent decentralised building. BIM tells me that it expects to have 20 staff there by the end of the year, which is a reasonable number at this stage. BIM also has its proposed seafood development centre, which is part of that decentralised building. It fits in neatly with the traditional role of Bord Iascaigh Mhara in developing the product and ensuring that it is suitable for marketing. It is important that the highest level of co-operation exists between BIM and Bord Bia on product development and marketing. That is a critical point.
I will have to revert to the Deputy concerning the amounts spent on office procurement. I was told the figure at one stage but I have forgotten how much it was. My suspicion is that it is probably better value than renting the considerable amount of current space, but I will get the exact figures for the Deputy.
Deputy Christy O'Sullivan mentioned the potential for job creation. All Oireachtas Members share the belief that there is huge job creation potential in the seafood sector, but it has not always been realised. Sometimes that was for environmental reasons, but also because there are marketing opportunities that we have not always been able to attain. He made the point that marketing is very important. Likewise, Deputy Mattie McGrath said that it is always timely to examine how agencies do their jobs and how some jobs can be done better by one agency rather than another. That is a part of what is being done in this case. Our experience of decentralisation has been positive in County Clare, as the Deputy found it to be in Tipperary.
Would it not have been wiser to amalgamate marketing development and product development, which are done by two different agencies? Given the way the Minister of State has explained this matter, I cannot avoid the conclusion that we will have BIM offices in Cork and Dublin, so will we have total decentralisation or not? Some €24 million has been spent on this building in Clonakilty, but will that be just for the 20 people referred to by the Minister of State? Will we be left with more BIM offices and employees in Dublin? I understand that, to date, only four people out of 90 have transferred to Clonakilty. Let us be realistic here — one is not going to run a Department, or part of it, with four staff from a total of 90. Will we have a repeat of that now?
I understand the Deputy's point but one must recall that the new building in Clonakilty houses the Department's entire fisheries staff in addition to the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority and whatever number of staff will be there from BIM. It also houses the seafood development centre, a BIM initiative which is very exciting. It is the way to go as regards business development and intelligence are concerned. BIM is to be commended in that regard. I am also satisfied that Bord Bia has more than proven its worth over a number of years, and particularly in the past decade, in marketing Irish food abroad. The decision to have the overseas marketing function under one authority has much to recommend it.
The Deputy said the cost of the office is €24 million and I am sure it is there or thereabouts. It is important to bear in mind, however, that it is housing the Department and two agencies. There will be about 80 departmental staff, approximately 50 SFPA people and 20 BIM people by the end of the year. That is what they hope to have there by then.
Are there not people already working for BIM in Clonakilty or have BIM staff been relocated to Clonakilty and subsumed into some other agency?
It is a shame to have good office space taken up by 50 SFPA people in Clonakilty. We welcome all jobs to Clonakilty but this is ridiculous. How many people are involved in fishing altogether? We have 50 SFPA officers to police how many fishing boats? It is a shame to have them in there. Some other building should be obtained for them.
The level of resources for the sea fishery protection remit was agreed following difficult negotiations with the European Commission arising from two or three major cases which were enormously embarrassing to this country. Arising from the provisions of the 2006 Act, the reality is that that agency's staff must be housed somewhere. It seems to be considerably more sensible to house them in departmental accommodation, which is owned by the State, than to pay additional moneys to accommodate them half a mile up the road in private accommodation. The numbers arise from the experience that this country — as well as a number of other countries, including France — had concerning transgressions and other difficulties that have arisen. If it were possible to do it with 30 staff it would be done, but my understanding is that there is a requirement for this number.
We have 50 SFPA staff in this country although we have a very small percentage of the EU fisheries quota. How many sea fishery protection officers do France and Spain have?
The SFPA's remit does not only extend to the Irish fishing fleet; it extends to all fleets operating in our waters. The technology that has been put in place is extraordinarily effective. At least, it will be effective when an issue raised yesterday by Deputy Creed is properly addressed, that is, the issue of a level playing field and information from jurisdictions on landings by their boats. Undoubtedly, when all of that is done, one of my successors will be in here being told by members that there are not enough staff in the SFPA to ensure that the resource in our waters is properly protected. That day is not too far away, provided we manage to get the level playing field across all of Europe that the Commission proposes.
I can see justification for that. Until that happens, we should look at what is in place at present. I hope what the Minister of State states will come into practice. If it is carried out right and if it can be policed properly, we might be on top of the situation where all of these fleets come in to take our fish, without inspections in many cases. These boats are boarded at present and the inspectors cannot find anything because it is not a level playing field. I hope the Minister of State is correct, that there will be a level playing field. Then having 50 people involved will be justified.
I can arrange to circulate the most recent figures from the SFPA on the number of cases it has taken and the number of examinations of landings, and so on. When such information was circulated previously many were surprised to find the number of foreign boats that had been dealt with by the SFPA and the Naval Service, and also the level of fines which had been paid by them.
We raised the issue of the number of BIM staff who have relocated.
Up to very recently the offices were not finished and there was not much pressure to transfer staff. As I understand it, the first four or five are currently transferred or perhaps have transferred. The CEO has been telling me that his hope is to have 20 staff there by the end of this year. I can get Deputy Creed a note on that. It is a matter we can revisit in any event.
I acknowledge we have sprung the matter on the Minister of State. We would appreciate if he could send us a briefing note on the decentralisation programme as it relates to Clonakilty including such matters as costings, staff numbers and expressions of interest in transferring.
Apropos of that discussion, could we visit this nice scenic place some time to see these offices?
And interview the SFPA.
We will discuss that at another meeting. We just cannot discuss it today. That concludes our consideration of the motion.