Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Legislative can wait for another few months.

I wish Ms Bocquel well in her new role. I had to check - Fáilte Ireland chief executive is a huge role. I wish her the best of luck.

On the points made about the Faroe Islands, I accept the coasts are different and the challenges will be different but it does not explain the huge gap in targets, for example. As I understand it, our own Government - correct me if I am wrong - set a target a number of years ago in terms of aquaculture.

It just has not been reached. From the perspective of BIM, Ms Bocquel should clarify the targets and why, in BIM's opinion, they were not reached. My understanding on the targets is that where we are at now is at less than half of the target set by the Government, while being fully aware of the challenges that we face.

In terms of global population food demands, obviously BIM looks at growing markets and growing food demands around the world. Clearly, these are huge opportunities. We know Irish agriculture does very well, particularly the beef sector, in terms of exports and meeting the global demand for food that is growing all the time. I want to get a sense of the frustration felt by BIM. Some of the challenges have been outlined in terms of the topography and types of coastlines around Ireland. That is fair enough but Scotland also faces into the Atlantic Ocean and experiences exposure to strong waters, starfish, etc. My guess is that Iceland has similar challenges. Ms Bocquel referenced the Faroe Islands and I defer to her on that but there must be countries that have equal challenges to Ireland but that have done a lot better than us. How do we meet our targets in the future? How do we ensure we have an industry that people can invest in and one that has a sustainable future? I would like to hear the reflections of the outgoing CEO on how we can meet those targets, do better and meet the food demands globally.