Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

The question arose from the two-day visit to Killybegs of the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. I know this is an area the Minister of State has represented for a long time and with which he is very familiar. I pay tribute to Mr. Art Kavanagh of the chamber of commerce and Mr. Sean O'Donoghue of the KFO as well as the other bodies and stakeholders who met us. I was asked, as a priority, for Killybegs, Howth, Dunmore, Rossaveal, Castletownbere and Dingle to request the Minster of State to look seriously at the 1968 Act to see whether he can give the local stakeholders and fishermen some say in the administration of their ports. We got complaint after complaint about harbour charges, restricted landing times, local electrical systems and the weighing system, where the water is weighed with the fish — it was blue whiting when we were there — instead of being weighed in the factories. The Minister of State was supposed to be working on that.

It was felt the system of administration is by diktat from the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. Is it not disgraceful that three of our premier fishing ports, Killybegs, in Deputy Gallagher's constituency, Howth, in mine, and Dunmore have had to exist for so long without a harbour master or general manager to run the show in each port? That is no way to treat these vitally important parts of the economy and the fishing industry. There were many complaints about the administration of the harbour development and the need for the removal of what the local Killybegs people call "the lump" or mound of materials on the quayside, dug out and not moved.

There was a whole range of requests from the Minister of State's constituency to upgrade the roads, the N56, the ring road, the electricity and sewerage systems. It seems that nothing is working. The Minister of State now has an opportunity to take urgent action on behalf of the people of Killybegs and their community leaders, Mr. Kavanagh, Mr. O'Donoghue and the rest, to ensure that the restrictions on the users and workers in the port are removed. The country's premier fishing port should be used to its fullest possible capacity.

I would like the Minister of State's views on those points which I am relaying to him from his constituents.

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