Ivor Callely (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Deenihan for raising this matter on the Adjournment and for his compassion and desire to preserve public ownership of the Jeanie Johnston. My colleague, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Dermot Ahern, regrets being unable to take this debate this evening. He would like to have been able to do so but he has other commitments.

I concur with much of what Deputy Deenihan said regarding the importance of retaining the ship in public ownership and the benefits that could accrue therefrom. In light of the fact that Deputy Deenihan mentioned the training courses on the Asgard II vessel, my son, who has a great interest in the marine, is currently enjoying a seven-day training course on it.

As regards the Jeanie Johnston, we all know the project and are aware of some of the difficulties associated with it. The project was commenced in 1996 and is being run by the board and management of the Jeanie Johnston (Ireland) Company Limited. The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources first became involved in June, 2000 when the then Minister agreed to provide grant aid of up to €2.54 million to enable completion of the project. However a due diligence report commissioned by the Department identified that additional funding would be required for the completion of the project and, following the drawing up of a rescue plan, the Minister sought and obtained Government approval in April 2001 to provide additional funding, bringing the total allocation by the Department to this project to just shy of €4 million.

Since the Government decision in April 2001, the primary role of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources in the Jeanie Johnston project has been to oversee the allocation of the Government's grant funding to the project to ensure that construction of the vessel was completed to the highest possible standards of safety and quality and that it undertook its planned transatlantic voyage to North America.

Following a High Court re-structuring of the Jeanie Johnston (Ireland) Company Limited in late 2002, a consortium comprising Kerry County Council, Tralee Town Council, Shannon Development and Kerry Group plc took over ownership of the Jeanie Johnston replica famine vessel. At the time, my colleague and Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Dermot Ahern, welcomed the decisions taken by Kerry County Council and Tralee Town Council to take over the project in partnership with the Shannon Development Company and the Kerry Group plc. In doing so, the Minister recognised that this initiative provided the only real alternative to an unstructured liquidation of the project, and that it might well be the final chance to preserve the use of the vessel for the tourism and heritage purposes for which it was originally intended.

The Minister also recognised that despite its troubled existence, the Jeanie Johnston project has continued to receive vigorous support from politicians of all political persuasions North and South. Due to my own marine interests, I took the opportunity to visit and board the Jeanie Johnston and I congratulate all who have been involved in the project to date.

Under its new ownership structure, the ship completed its successful maiden voyage to the US and Canada during 2003 where it illustrated the historical famine era links between Ireland and those two countries and generally demonstrated the nature of and cultural and social contribution made by Irish emigration during that period.

All the grant funds allocated by Government to the Jeanie Johnston project have now been paid by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. The Minister is aware that the current owners of the vessel have recently announced that they intend to undertake a return visit with the ship to the US this year but that they have made it clear that they do not intend to operate the vessel on an ongoing or long-term basis.

I also understand that, following this trip, the owners would like to offer the vessel as a gift to the State given the large amount of Exchequer funding which went into its construction. Their belief is that this ship should remain as an asset to the State to be utilised mainly as a sail training facility and maritime tourist attraction, both at home and abroad, in the years to come.

The Deputy will no doubt be aware that the State's direct involvement in sail training in Ireland comes under the auspices of Coiste an Asgard, which is chaired by the Minister for Defence, Deputy Michael Smith, and that responsibility for tourism matters comes under the remit of the Minister for Arts, Tourism and Sport, Deputy O'Donoghue. While I can fully understand and support to a certain extent the expression of his views by Deputy Deenihan, I will ensure this matter is brought to the attention of both of my colleagues. We will report back to Deputy Deenihan on what progress can be made on the issue.

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