Mr. Michael Keatinge:

I would like to make a final comment on this that is important to bring to the attention of the committee. In Ireland, approximately 70% of all the seafood we eat is cod or salmon and 60% of that is imported. That is a telling indictment - that as a seafood nation we are that heavily reliant on imports.

Another point we make continually, and I will come back to it again, is that we should channel our energy into creating a structured approach to aquaculture and striving to do so in an organic, environmentally sensitive and sustainable fashion. I believe we should take this approach and that these are the discussions BIM is and should be having with its colleagues in the Marine Institute and in Inland Fisheries Ireland. We must realign the national conversation around aquaculture and say there can be jobs, but they must be done properly. That is where we need to focus the debate in the future.

The Chairman mentioned the agrifood strategy 2025 and setting challenging targets within that is important. We come back time and again to the fact that we have a limited quota and that stocks must be fished sustainably. Therefore, we come back to the three issues I have raised: additional foreign landings from the 1.5 million tonnes taken off our coastline; targeting previously unused quota; and the discard ban that will come in over the next couple of years, from which new opportunities will arise. New opportunities will also arise from aquaculture.

I would like to address a number of other questions. I will ask Mr. Buckley to address the question on the Letterkenny Institute of Technology. Deputy Pringle asked about the accounts and there was a note asking about ice plants that Mr. Kelleher can respond to. I ask Mr. Buckley to speak now about the new relationship with the Letterkenny Institute.