Mr. Michael Keatinge:

Yes, that could be funded. Once a FLAG has made a decision to include eco-tourism as a priority, why not? If that is something it sees as giving viable alternatives within their area, then we would absolutely encourage that type of thinking. I am being careful not to suggest that our colleagues in the Marine Survey Office are anything but helpful. I would stress, however, that it is a case of insurance and safety. A community could come together and say that, as a co-operative group of inshore fishermen, it wants to purchase and run between them a sea angling vessel. They will look for funds under our FLAG to have one and also want to run an office in Baltimore or Downings. People can then come in and book their activities and make plans. That is the sort of thing we are going to encourage.

It is vital on this occasion that, as we approach the first round of funding, and before we get there, we take stock of what we have achieved over the last three or four years in 2013, 2014 and 2015. How many projects have we funded, what were they about and what did they really add up to? We also need to help those running the FLAGs to get a suite of projects for the next measure, which will perhaps be a bit better thought through. We may need to have some bigger demonstration projects focused on job creation. They should be substantial and form a real stepping stone to the future. Equally, I believe there is a place for very small projects, including local festivals, artisan operators and small producers. Those are all terribly important. A small grant of €20,000 or €30,000 can create sustainable jobs. I can think of one particular individual, although it would not be appropriate to name him. We gave him a small grant to buy a portable ice-making machine. That gentleman now employs five people collecting inshore fisheries products and providing ice locally. One can create jobs with small grants, but I also think we did not achieve enough big projects under the last programme. That is one of the things we will have to work on directly with our FLAGs to help create confidence in communities to go for slightly bigger projects this time.