Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and his officials for the presentation and overview of the issue. We had a very thorough session with the officials a number of months ago in regard to the aquaculture licensing report, which we went through in some detail. They outlined to us a lot of what the Minister has outlined about what has come to pass and the background, the fact a prioritisation is being made in terms of dealing with the backlog in shellfish applications, and the 300 licence target for this year and next year.

During that session, we pressed the officials very significantly on the implementation of all of the recommendations from the aquaculture licensing review report. The feedback we were getting in that session was that the prioritisation at this point was on the shellfish backlog and that the other recommendations would have to await progress being made and be dealt with subsequently. As the Minister pointed out, there are 30 separate recommendations from the report. After those 30 recommendations are outlined, the review committee goes on to make a point that I think it useful to quote:

The Group undertook its review work in line with the Terms of Reference and acknowledges that implementation of the report is a matter for the Minister and the Department. Implementation of all of the recommendations in this report will be challenging. However the Group considers that it would be beneficial to set out an Implementation Strategy which would assign responsibility for recommendations, accountability and set milestones for delivery and identify the necessary resources to support the implementation process.

That summarises where the group is at and what it feels needs to happen with regard to the 30 recommendations it put forward. The first two recommendations were that there should be a reasonable timescale for licence determinations and, as part of that, legislation should be developed to put in place a new licensing system.

When we discussed this with the officials the previous day, we were informed there had not been progress on that legislation and that it would have to take a back seat to the prioritisation of resources towards the shellfish licensing backlog. While I acknowledge the important work of dealing with the shellfish backlog, I do not see a reason, almost a year and a half on from the publication of the licensing review, we do not yet have an implementation strategy. Moreover, the Minister has published nothing dealing with the various recommendations, outlining to whom responsibility was assigned for implementing each of those recommendations or putting in place an implementation timeline for each of them. I would have thought that was a minimum basic response to the report and a basic outline of how we would progress. It is not acceptable that the Minister has not yet produced that or ensured his officials have produced it. That is why, having discussed it here at committee, we decided it was important we engaged further with the Minister, as the political head of the Department, to tease out these issues and, in particular, to put the point to him in regard to getting that implementation plan in place and then looking to back it up with the necessary resources to make progress.

I want to touch on the issue of the finfish licensing backlog. While the prioritisation has been on the shellfish licences, there is a very significant backlog which has not been addressed yet in regard to finfish, and we have to bear in mind that finfish make up 75% of the value of the aquaculture market overall. The Minister will be aware of a company in my part of the world, Marine Harvest, which is by far the largest salmon producer in the country and works down the west coast as far as Cork, with its processing base in Fanad. That processing base operates at something like 40% capacity despite having the capacity to process far more fish were they available, with the resulting employment that could create. This is an area of north Donegal where employment options are few and far between. I had a meeting with the company recently and looked at the list of licences it has on file that are awaiting decision. Going back through the date of the renewal applications, it will be seen they are from 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2014 and 2015, with five from 2005, seven or eight that go back to 2011 and two from 2006.

It has three new live applications in place. One commenced for the Shot Head in Bantry back in 2011, one was submitted for Waterfall in 2016 and another for Lough Swilly in 2014. Those applications are not able to be progressed. The company has indicated it is in a position to invest up to €22 million if licences can be progressed through the system. That could add another 250 jobs, many of them in north Donegal but also right along the west coast, including in the Minister's county. That is an example in the finfish sector. We are not on top of processing the applications and we do not have the resources or a streamlined licensing system to move them on. We are not utilising and maximising the value and potential of our agriculture industry. I refer in particular to finfish.

In 2003, salmon production was 23,000 tonnes whereas last year it was just under 19,500 tonnes. If we compare that with other countries, in particular with Scotland, we see a scenario where licences can move from submission to conclusion and decision in a couple of years. As a result, that sector is growing. We have seen Marine Harvest pioneer organic salmon production in recent years. That is meeting a strong need in the market, but because of the backlog and delay in processing licences, that increased demand is not being met.

Will the Minister respond to my points on the implementation plan, the legislation and specifically on finfish? I refer to the backlogs we are experiencing and the need for a radical overhaul to put a new system in place.