Mr. Richie Flynn:

Yes, a non-SAC area.

We could increase our export earnings from €100 million to €200 million easily given the demand that exists. We can increase our supply of raw material to local fish and shellfish processors, keeping more employment there. We can invest in new technology that is built in Ireland, but to do this we need the State to facilitate us not with grant aid but with a system that can deliver licences with flexibility that are fit for purpose, from which we can raise funds and capitalise on our credibility.

New legislation is not the answer. We are not asking the committee for the introduction of a new Bill. We just want the willingness to push development. The industry needs answers as to how key economic and practical questions raised by the targets set in Harvest 2020 and Our Ocean Wealth will be met. That is the job my chairman, Jerry Gallagher from Northwest Shellfish, has been doing since he took up the job. How will the State support the industry in practical terms, instead of announcing grant aid schemes such as that announced in the past fortnight by BIM, which 95% of our members cannot access because they do not have a licence that has been renewed within the timeframe required? Why are the templates for licences we require unfit for purpose, based on outdated upper limits of tonnage and ignoring new monitoring technology, which actively discourages good husbandry? Why can the licensing system not work with farmers who wish to avoid the risk of algal blooms, which wiped out many stocks in the west and north west last year because of a lack of access to protected sites? These and many other questions need to be answered through the redeployment of existing resources in BIM and the Marine Institute into the sector's development, a closer working relationship between the Department and licensees and applicants and a better understanding of the needs and limitations of those working with different species.