John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

No, it will only apply to the new ones. I would like him to clarify his views on new applications, which have been very contentious, particularly in bays and harbours also used by the general public. There has been a kind of "them and us" situation and we need to have some kind of consensus in the aquaculture industry. I am sure Mr. Richie Flynn has met the Minister since he came into office - he came a number of times when I was there. He is very dedicated to the aquaculture industry as are all the aquaculture people along the coastline. It is important that the communities would work together and reach consensus. We had the very successful CLAMS project where people in the community and the producers met and agreed on the way forward which is the appropriate way to proceed.

When we went into Government with the Green Party, I strongly objected to the split of responsibility between the Departments. I felt it would cause problems with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government dealing with certain sectors and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food dealing with other sectors. It was only divided because of the Green Party input at the time, and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government demanded to have control of certain sections. That may be one of the reasons we now have such a backlog.

If there is an application for a foreshore licence and a planning application for the same project, there should be co-operation in that area. I always felt that by the time the planning application was approved the foreshore licence application should also be approved. However, in one case in St. Helen's Bay in my county the planning permission had been granted 18 months earlier and the foreshore licence was held up, not in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, but in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. As a result the development did not proceed when it should have and now I doubt if it will ever proceed given the economic situation of the country. There should be contact between the planning application process and the foreshore licence application. There is also involvement from the EPA and other NGOs, and various hoops through which an applicant must rightly go to protect our foreshore and coastline.

During the boom era of development some built illegally on the foreshore and others took short cuts, and some bad decisions may have been made. I hope this legislation will clarify once and for all what is in the remit of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and what is in the remit of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. There will be times when there will be an overlap and the Departments will have to consult each other, which is the way it should be.

At the end of the day, the role of the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the role of those from maritime communities is to ensure the development of both sides of the fishing industry, namely, conventional fishing, as I would call it, and the aquaculture industry. If we can work hand in hand on those two areas, we can develop the fishing industry in a planned way that will create extra jobs. In the present climate, the farming and fishing industries are probably the two areas where there is huge potential for food development. As the Commissioner's officials in Brussels pointed out to us, 65% to 70% of fish must be imported into the EU so there are obviously tremendous opportunities for adding value to products and developing products. I hope this legislation will make life easier for the people.

To come back to my original point, the Minister must put extra staff and financial resources into the Department to ensure the backlog is cleared as quickly as possible. We in Fianna Fáil will facilitate the passing of the Bill as quickly as possible today. The Bill will make the Minister's life easier in the Department and, I hope we will see the backlog cleared as quickly as possible.

See this speech in context