Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the legislation and commend the Minister for being proactive in this area. In his first term in office, he has articulated his passion to do something to realise the potential in aquaculture and to tackle the aquaculture licensing challenges, on which I congratulate him.

This legislation will increase the productive capacity if the Department focuses on food. Shellfish and finfish from Malin Head to Carlingford Lough will be the focus of Department staff in Clonakilty. I am sure this line in the sand will result in a positive outcome in terms of tackling head on and formalising the process.

The Minister has stated on numerous occasions since taking office that our biggest challenge is volume, including the marine harvest from my constituency heading to elsewhere in Europe. We do not have enough salmon for the market. The same applies to shellfish, including oysters and scallops. There is considerable demand but we are not producing the volume. This is where the challenge lies.

From a technical point of view, a positive development is needed in the Department. A cultural shift is needed to address what we can do rather than what people in the industry cannot do. We differ from the United States in that any time there is a change of government there, there is a complete change at an administrative level. That does not happen here. Many of my constituents allude to this point not only in respect of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food but in respect of other Departments. If the same people remain in the Department, is there a shift in the way they do things?

I understand leadership comes from the Cabinet and the Minister. I believe the Minister will follow up on his conviction that things will be done differently. That will require a complete cultural shift in the way people in the Department think. That must happen because there has been a negative relationship between people in the Department and those in the industry. I am confident that there are good people in the Department with years of experience. It is up to the Legislature to show leadership, and the Department will not be found wanting.

There must be a new template for licence renewal. There are questions as to why licence renewal is not progressing in SAC areas. The Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board should be up and running for new applications. That could be done straightaway. It is important that licence renewal does not go through ALAB and that the Department takes a hands-on approach in regard to renewal. New applications will have to go through ALAB but it is important the Department deals with renewal directly.

I spoke to a young man in the oyster business today. He works in probably one of the most isolated parts of Europe, never mind in Ireland, Trawbreaga Bay. He employes two people and seeks to expand his oyster business. In the next four to five years, he seeks to increase the number of employees from two to 12. That is a massive increase in capacity. He is positive he will do that but he needs the break in terms of volume. He has markets in France telephoning him daily looking for oysters but he cannot supply them even though he has potential sites for which he cannot get licences and these are in non-SAC areas.

These are the real challenges. We say the major task of government is to create jobs. If someone in a rural isolated place like Trawbreaga Bay in north Inishowen can increase employment from two to 12 employees, what could we do from Malin Head to Carlingford Lough? I am glad the Minister appreciates the potential because he knows the marine and the challenges in the coastal zone.

Those in my constituency will not even enter the Asian market or market in China because they know they cannot provide the volume. Norway produces almost 1 million tonnes of salmon per annum while we produce 12,000 tonnes. These are the areas of potential which we are not addressing and they must be looked at closely in the future.

Bureaucracy has driven everybody mad and not only those in the marine and agriculture. Bureaucracy went completely crazy in this country in the past ten to 15 years. There has been too much Government and State involvement, with too many pen pushers deciding the fate of an industry. That is the cultural challenge we have and the creation of a leaner Government will bring its own challenges. Government became too fat and heavy and the industry relationship was tarnished, especially in the marine industry involving aquaculture and sea fisheries.

There was too much of an intrinsic State link in the introduction of layers of procedure and bureaucracy. The lame duck excuse used in the past was that it was a European problem and the European Union was to blame. I know the Minister will face the challenge head on, as we must take responsibility for our own actions in sea fisheries and aquaculture. We have only to consider the statistics. In Irish waters alone since 1973, we have lost up to €500 billion in revenue from fisheries. We have given up much in this country. The Italians and French have not given up their natural resources, such as their wine-producing regions.

As we gave up so much, we must embrace the worldwide demand, especially in Far East countries such as China and India, as their middle income classes demand more fish. There is such potential and we must face it head on. We must take responsibility and control of our own actions and I know the Minister will do this. He has already initiated a new vision within the Department.

It is easy to be critical of the past, although the public is more interested in the future. A former Minister of State, Deputy John Browne, is in the Dáil, and I acknowledge the challenging portfolio he had. He took a personal involvement in it and he should be commended on the positive action he brought about. We are now at a juncture where we want to sell our food, and not just as a raw material. We are sending oysters to France which are being processed and labelled as French. The French are commenting on the great quality of oysters they have in France but we should not forget those oysters come from Ireland.

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