Ms Teresa Morrissey:

I will make a few comments on the points the Deputy has raised. I am very familiar with Cromane and the area the Deputy is from and has been referring to. I see the Cromane ladies football team had a big win on Saturday in Mallow. Well done to them. It has been said to me any time I go down to Cromane that there would be no football teams there if there was no aquaculture. That is how important the sector is to the area, and I am aware of that.

I am aware also of the licensing delays there.

The Deputy mentioned the mussel seed fishery and I support his comments on that. There definitely needs to be movement in reopening the mussel seed fishery in Wexford Harbour. There has been an outrageous delay for the past two months in trying to even get a decision as to whether we will open the fishery or not. I have been in regular contact with the bottom mussel industry several times a week for the past two months trying to get some progress. Again, there are two different Departments and there are several agencies. There is the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Marine Institute, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority all involved in this process and trying to just make a decision. Now, there was a finding of an invasive species. That is fine. There is a protocol to follow to make sure the process is followed correctly such that we address that concern about an invasive species. That has been done and we have all the data now to make a decision, but we are still waiting about a month for that decision to be made. I agree with the Deputy that we need to see progress on that.

The Deputy mentioned licensing delays. Cromane is no different from anywhere else in the country. As I said, a lot of people down there are absolutely reliant on the industry - on the seafood industry, not just aquaculture - in terms of their employment and keeping people in the area in jobs, specifically young people, as the Deputy said.

I agree with what the Deputy said about bringing in all parties. Bringing in the Department and us to look at licensing has been mentioned a few times, but that also needs to look at the Marine Institute, possibly representatives from BIM and any agency, really, that has anything to do with the licensing process. ALAB would be part of that as well.