Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I also welcome and support the development of Greencastle Harbour and the fishermen who have a tough job. However, we must be careful about how we manage these resources. It is not appropriate to allocate funds on the last day of a Minister's term in a particular office as appears to have occurred in this instance. This goes against the interests of the fishing industry in general because other ports are seeking funding. Regardless of the merits of how a decision was made, if there appears to be favouritism, it raises suspicions and concerns, which is not fair to anyone involved. While I agree with the point made by Deputy Broughan about investment in the fishing industry, particularly in Greencastle, we must invest in a manner that does not arouse suspicions that favouritism was involved.

There is merit in what Deputy Perry is trying to do in creating a new future for Irish fisheries. We will have to exploit every fishery in an intelligent and scientific manner to get the highest possible value from our fishing industry. This does not apply to just large deep sea trawlers, it must concentrate on inshore fisheries and aquaculture. We must try to get back to the situation which obtained in the past where the fish came to us, and we could catch fish without having to travel half way out in the Atlantic. We could wait for migratory stocks such as herring and mackerel to arrive on our shores. We did not have to burn endless amounts of diesel to try to catch the fish. If we act intelligently in developing our fisheries, that future will be secure.

I prefer the approach the Minister is taking in the sea fisheries control institute, which has an outside advisory membership along the lines of what Deputy Perry is seeking. I commend the Minister for the way he has amended the proposals relating to the membership of the institute. Such an inclusive approach works best by ensuring all sides are involved, including environmentalists, fishermen, processors and so on. This type of committee could play an important role by providing a collective resource. It could, for example, comment on and assist in the development of the control mechanisms in place.

The Minister's amendment meets a certain amount of my concerns and I prefer it to the more complicated and detailed approach taken in amendment No. 23. The provisions of the latter must be teased out in more detail before they would work effectively.

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