Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Go raibh maith agat. All our members have had an opportunity to speak so I will take my opportunity now. I have a number of questions. The first set is for the witnesses from the IFA. As has been said, the issue around licensing is the biggest single barrier to innovation and development in the sector, a sector, as Deputy Mac Lochlainn rightly said, that could play a much more significant role than it already does in our coastal communities, national economy and seafood sector. I think the issue of licensing is holding back, as I said, development and innovation because it strikes me that if you are on a renewal licence for ten, 15 or 20-odd years, you are subject to those conditions and subject to the conditions that were maybe current 25 or 30 years ago. There is very little room for expansion. There is very little room to develop, differentiate or innovate. I think that is the biggest barrier. Then it is obviously a barrier to entry for new entrants into the sector. The Government has allowed this to happen over a very long period. It is becoming rarer. There is no external agency outside of the Department that this can be pinned on. It is within a Government Department that this problem has arisen. We have discussed it today and previously in public session. We have also referred to it in some of our private meetings. It is a piece of work we are going to launch into. This is a new committee, as the witnesses can appreciate, but this is very much on our radar. At the end of the day, the Minister and the Government have to be accountable for this failure because it is holding back development, hurting innovation and creating real hardship for a sector that should be taking off.

As Mr. O'Sullivan mentioned, there is a growing population all around the world. There is a growing demand for protein. We have an ability here to produce quality protein in a very sustainable way. We need to tap into that. I have a number of questions in this regard.

In our guests' experience, is there a difference between finfish and shellfish in terms of delays or the causes of those delays? When talking about the need for a single piece of legislation, are we referring to the new fisheries (aquaculture) (amendment) Bill, the heads of which are being prepared at present? Has there been any engagement with the Department? Has it come to the organisations represented here to solicit their views and consult, even informally, as it drafts the heads of that Bill? I understand they are currently in development. I do not mean to repeat the question, but surely there must be a bottleneck somewhere in the Department. There could be several bottlenecks. Is it around the Marine Institute coming forward with the assessments? Is it just a lack of staffing? Is there anything the witnesses can see from their experience? We will definitely hear from the Department and the Minister what the issues are from their point of view. As people representing applicants, I would like to get a sense from our guests of where the issues lie. I will come back with another couple of questions afterwards.