Mr. Jason Whooley:

Like Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, Deputy Michael McNamara raised the issue of inconsistency of scale versus niche products. It is important to understand Ireland's position on seafood. Unfortunately, the vast majority of our seafood is sold in a commodity format. Unquestionably, we need to move away from that system. The future for the majority of Irish seafood must be in niche, high value production.

I referred in my opening statement to the 35,000 tonnes of aquaculture product produced in 2012. The European market for seafood is worth about €55 billion per annum, totalling 15 million tonnes. On a slow day the European market can take everything produced in Ireland. That is the scale of the opportunity offered in Europe alone. Even if we were to double our organic salmon production which is going to a niche market, the impact on the overall market would be minimal. There are absolutely no health issues of any description to do with aquaculture or farmed salmon.

On the marketing and development of sea fish versus aquaculture products, the marketing and promotion of Irish seafood are within the remit of our colleagues in Bord Bia. From a business development perspective, BIM actively engages with the seafood sector.

We are involved in areas such as value-added processing and assisting our processors to scale up and create more value-added products for the international and domestic markets. In addition, we have a dedicated seafood development centre, the only one in Ireland, dedicated to the delivery of value-added products for Irish seafood companies ranging from small to very large companies. The centre in Clonakilty has proved very successful in adapting a traditionally commodity-type focused product to a more value-added niche that is proving lucrative for many Irish companies.

Deputy McNamara asked about the budget split. From a BIM perspective, with regard to fisheries and aquaculture, the fisheries and training budget for 2013, including capital and current spending, amounted to a total of €2.32 million versus an aquaculture budget of €1.4 million.

My colleague, Mr. Keatinge, will deal with the issue raised by Deputy Pringle regarding inshore fishermen and how we can provide a structure for them to take advantage of aquaculture. My colleague, Mr. Maguire, will deal with the issue raised by Deputy Harrington regarding the potential for the development of the aquaculture industry.