Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)

I will ask two brief questions. In terms of inshore fisheries, what scope does the Minister have to allow fishermen to work within the six-mile limit, particularly in the context of cod recovery plan area 6A? The ban on net fishing therein is having a severe impact on the inshore fleet.

I welcome the Minister's comments on the completion of the appropriate agricultural assessment of four bays. Unfortunately, a further 86 bays remain to be assessed. It will take an inordinate amount of time. Will the Minister examine the process used by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in respect of Sruwaddacon Bay in north-west County Mayo, where an appropriate assessment seems to have been carried out rapidly to allow a major construction project - the building of a tunnel to take gas ashore - to go ahead? Perhaps this model could be used regardless of a Department's gold plate.

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