Mr. Michael Keatinge:

A point I would make about giving somebody a life jacket is that training is essential. In terms of how we approach that, a person does not just get a life jacket. He or she must do a day's training. However, we recognise that if we are to change people's thinking around these issues, doing a training course in a swimming pool has all the realism of the safety of one's bath at home. What we are putting into Greencastle will be a state-of-the-art, world-class simulator. Essentially, it is a swimming pool with waves, thunder and lightning. The idea is to get people into that pool and show them what it will be like if this ever happens and how all of it will unfold in terms of using the equipment, coping with water splashing in their faces and being able to set off their beacons. It is part of the complete change Ms McCarthy spoke about in terms of how we look at skills and training.

Safety must be at the heart of everything, but we have a much bigger plan in terms of the college in Greencastle, the school in Castletownbere and the two mobile units, one of which is currently in Mayo bringing training to Belmullet. Rather than trying to bring people from Belmullet all the way to Castletownbere or Greencastle, we bring the training to them. We are embarking on a radical rethink of creating an industry that has the best talent but that also brings out the best talent. We are literally looking at what we are offering. For example, if a person wants to drive a fishing boat, for many years that person was required to have a certificate from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, and we do the training to prepare that person for it. However, we are saying that the fishermen of the future have to understand microbiology and food handling because they are storing a food product. They have to be able to understand the scientific advice. People getting ready for the seafood industry should be out on the boats with the Marine Institute understanding stock assessment and gear technology.

If we move across that into processing and aquaculture, I hope that when we are before the committee next year, we will be telling the members that we now have a ten-year plan that will radically change things. We have said many times that in modern Ireland, school leavers in Castletownbere, Belmullet or wherever often went into fishing because their fathers had boats. Those young people leaving school now can be whatever they want to be, and we must compete to bring them into our sector and offer them a whole-of-life career. That is what we are about. I am excited about this, and the colleges in Greencastle and Castletownbere and our facility in Clonakilty for the processing side and innovation will be at the heart of that.