Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State. I refer to the issues I raised at the joint Oireachtas committee meeting last week. The Government needs to develop a mentality that it has bought into the Good Friday Agreement, which clearly provides for an integrated marine strategy. This presents a serious challenge because it will create additional layers of bureaucracy. However, the Government needs to reach out to capable people, for example, in the Loughs Agency who are willing to work with it in partnership. I do not mean in a tokenistic way because there are ways we can co-operate and share expertise and create opportunities not only to manage our inland waterways but also to promote tourism through joint marketing.

The Minister of State did not mention meeting members from the Loughs Agency, perhaps he is restricted from doing so because of protocol and so on, but I ask him to meet them. He needs to work more proactively. The Lough Foyle basin comes under the auspices of Belfast, Dublin and London, which involves many layers of bureaucracy and difficulties. However, we should be proactive and acknowledge the proposal for an integrated marine strategy, North and South, which will provide opportunities that should be built on. We should learn from other examples of co-operation such as that between the PSNI and the Garda.

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