Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

To clarify the issue, two individuals retired rather than resigned. Bord Iascaigh Mhara has advised that in the interim and as a matter of urgency it is seeking instructors on a service supply basis through the Government's e-tender website. The short-term solution it seeks is to bring in someone from the private sector to provide the services required to train skippers for the fishing industry. It is unlikely, however, that this will provide a long-term solution for people in Castletownbere, Killybegs, Greencastle, Dingle or on the east coast. The reason this case arose and other, similar cases are arising in many other Departments is that the recruitment ban prevents departmental staff from being replaced on retirement. A problem often arises when someone with a specific skill set who can normally be replaced by someone else in the Department retires from a Department. In this case, however, the skill set required of a master mariner to teach the course in question meant that no one within Bord Iascaigh Mhara was available to replace the individual in question. As a result, we must resort to the use of e-tenders to have the persons in question replaced in the short-term. I accept, however, that a long-term solution is required.

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