Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

I have questions on several matters. What is gone is gone, but with regard to the Minister of State's plans for the upcoming budget, we had the incoming chairs of the Marine Institute and the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board before us in recent weeks and we raised the issue of increased resources. We cannot say enough that the population of the Faroe Islands is approximately 58,000, which is not too much bigger than the Inishowen Peninsula where I am from, and the aquaculture industry of the Faroe Islands is bigger than that of Ireland. We have not built an aquaculture industry and we have not created jobs or wealth in our coastal communities.

When I asked the industry, I was told some of the big issues were the ongoing delays and not making reasonably timed decisions on licences. People cannot really invest in the industry. The Marine Institute is clearly burdened with appropriate assessments, which take far too long. It is not a simple process, and I accept this, but it takes the institute a very long time. Similarly, the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board does not appear to have the resources it requires to make decisions in a speedy timeframe. I want to get a sense of this and I ask the Minister of State to note it. What can we do to engage with these bodies? People have a right to object but decisions must be made in a reasonable timeframe so the industry can have a timeline for how long it can expect them to take. We cannot build an industry if we cannot have some degree of clarity on licensing. I ask the Minister of State to respond to this and I will follow with my next questions.