Dr. Cecil Beamish:

We do not have a schedule. We keep it under review. We are open to keeping it under review. We have a budget, but like everybody else, we have limits. There have been some publications in the Inishowen Independent. I do not know if we can sustain it but it has happened. We will keep it under review. We are listening to what is being said. We are well aware of what is being said.

Lough Foyle has always been a complex issue. The aquaculture licensing legislation does not apply to Lough Foyle. Under the Good Friday Agreement, the Loughs Agency is envisaged as having future functions in aquaculture licensing in Lough Foyle. The issue underlying everything in Lough Foyle is the fact there has been no settlement on jurisdiction on Lough Foyle. Before the Good Friday Agreement and the referendum, under Articles 2 and 3, it was all considered to be part of the State. Subsequently, it changed with the changes of Articles 2 and 3. There has not been a resolution of the jurisdiction issue. It impacts on the foreshore. The aquaculture legislation does not apply. There is ongoing interdepartmental work on Lough Foyle, which has been going on for some time. There are contacts with the United Kingdom authorities, although the jurisdiction issue is primarily a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issue, to try to see if there is a way forward. Until the jurisdiction issue is resolved, it is difficult to see how the foreshore issue can be defined and how the functions can be given over to the Loughs Agency because there remains the issue of how the foreshore will be dealt with. In the UK, the Crown estate owns the foreshore and that is quite different from Ireland. The Crown estate is an independent entity. It regards it as its real estate, wherever the boundary is. The United Kingdom authorities have to deal with the Crown estate as well as part of that discussion. It is not resolved. There is active work going on. It is not something on which a timeline can be set for a resolution.