Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh Tara McCarthy agus gabhaim comhghairdeas léi as a ceapachán. I wish her the best in her new position. Is Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, considering aquaculture onshore or is it doing tests to see if there is potential in that area? I refer to a question I asked earlier of Foras na Mara. Has the large-scale aquaculture that was envisaged for Inis Oirr gone away or is it being envisaged in another site or is such a huge offshore fish farm still on the BIM agenda?

The fishing industry is dying on its feet. Fishermen tell me they are tied up in red tape, regulations and what they would see as the over-zealous implementation of EU directives. Issues arising from the sub-segmentation of the tonnage and kilowatts of boats have been raised with us and these lead to safety problems. There are fishermen in Ros an Mhíl who want to upgrade their boats but cannot because of the rules and regulations. A boat sank off the coast of Scotland a couple of years ago. The owners had wanted to upgrade that ship but had been held back by what they saw as EU restrictions being over-zealously implemented here and the fact that the penalty points system is very punitively exercised.

As the industry developers, one of the key partners BIM needs is the fishermen. How is BIM addressing those issues with the industry to try to work with the State agencies to make sure they can continue fishing and that young people - who are leaving - will come into the industry? The predecessor to this committee did a very good report on sustaining rural communities, one of whose recommendations was having a traditional licence for small-scale fishermen which would be free of quota. Has that ever come up on BIM's agenda or is it something it would push? There seems to be broad acceptance that the small fishermen do not impact much on quota but the paperwork involved in fishing from a small boat does affect them. Does BIM have an input into the discussions on the quotas being implemented within the EU perspective? When the quota is divvied up nationally, I am told the lion's share is taken up by a few big players with a small number of boats. If that was redistributed even by a small percentage it would both benefit smaller pelagic vessels across the rest of the country, the west and south west in particular, and would feed into the fish processing industry in other coastal communities. Does BIM have any comments on that?

We are told that the Maritime Area and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2013 is coming forward. That is, I think, the Bill to deal with the licensing of the seaweed industry. Has BIM been asked to comment on that because it is on the legislative programme for this session?

Mushroom companies have already gone out of business as a result of fluctuations in sterling etc. I am sure some of the seafood producers are in an equally precarious situation and depend on British purchasers. Does BIM have any indications from its work with the processing sector whether there are companies going to the wall or close to it? If so, what can be done to support them?