Dr. Cecil Beamish:

We are trying to focus first on the things that can be done in the shorter term, which is what the report recommends.

It is recognised that it will take time to prepare and draft primary legislation on aquaculture. We need to consult, prepare and draft a Bill to bring to the Oireachtas in due course. It is a recommendation and it is accepted that it will need to be done at some point as soon as it can be.

The focus is on the short and medium-term work. There are comments in the report about why the primary legislation element will need to be done later. Resolving the historic issues cannot wait and we must deal with them. First we must deal with the backlog.