Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann shall consider the Report of the Joint sub-Committee on Fisheries, entitled ‘Report on Promoting Sustainable Rural Coastal and Island Communities’, copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 14th January, 2014.”

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and welcome the opportunity to outline the context, background and conclusions of the report of the Joint sub-Committee on Fisheries, Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which was published in January 2014. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Paul Kehoe. I note the irony that we have long been waiting for an opportunity to debate the report in the House yet when it finally happens it coincides with the second annual Harnessing our Ocean Wealth Conference which is taking place today in Ringaskiddy. With no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, I am sure the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, would have liked to be present here but for the conference. Deputy Noel Harrington, a sub-committee member, is also attending today's conference and other members might also be there.

By way of background information, as part of its work programme, the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, following its establishment in 2012, identified issues of common concern in relation to the fishing sector and the socio-economic challenge facing rural and island communities, in particular the fishing communities, as meriting detailed consideration. The joint committee agreed to set up a sub-committee on fisheries. The committee is aware that inland fishing and island fishing come under the remit of the Departments of Transport, Tourism and Sport; Communications, Energy and Natural Resources; and the Environment, Community and Local Government, respectively, and considered it vital to establish a Joint Sub-Committee on Fisheries to focus solely on examining all such matters. The committee invited the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications and the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht to establish their own respective sub-committees so as to participate in proposed joint meetings of the three sub-committees.

Subsequent to that, a joint sub-committee of the three committees was established in December 2012, which while not unique is unusual, and we commenced detailed work throughout 2013. During this period, the joint sub-committee met in public on eight occasions and in private on nine occasions. We had engagement with a wide variety of stakeholders. To that end, I wish to express the committee's appreciation to all those who participated in the debate process. Those people gave the joint committee valuable information and insights into their experience. The time and energy devoted to the report has ensured that it contains a number of concrete and credible recommendations, of which there are 29 in total. Most of the people who attended the hearings had to travel from the south-west and north-west coasts and it was a considerable effort for them. To that end, we chose to launch the report in their territory on Inis Oírr on 18 January so as at least to acknowledge in some way the fact that they had given of their time to contribute to the findings. I will allow the other members of the sub-committee to elaborate on a number of issues, as they are probably all more au faitwith fishing matters than I, but on a personal level I both enjoyed the process and learned a lot about the subject of the report from the proceedings and the engagement with my colleagues and the witnesses who came before us.

The report addresses the following key themes: defining the rural coastal and island communities on which the report is focused and sourcing a socio-economic profile of them; describing the existing policy and licensing regimes upon which the industries and services, as listed in the report, are based; providing key statistics relating to the industries and services listed; summarising other challenges and opportunities facing the relevant communities and stakeholders; and confirming which industries and services are most important to the communities and stakeholders. While renewable energy is one such emerging industry, the sub-committee felt that this particular industry would possibly merit a specialised examination in future by it or another Oireachtas committee. The other key themes addressed are providing relevant background and comparative information from another EU member state, namely, the United Kingdom and more specifically Scotland where we visited; examining the effectiveness of Government policy in relation to the industries upon which the communities rely, in particular inshore fishing; and identifying strategies that could help the communities address unemployment and deprivation.

The report thereafter addresses the issues identified by the sub-committee on a thematic basis, which is subsectioned into three as follows, and on which the sub-committee has made specific recommendations. Section 1 refers to rural coastal and island communities, provides a socio-economic profile and gives a brief overview of the current reform of the CFP; examines the socio-economic profile of rural coastal and island communities and attempts to define the geographical extent of the communities. That is contained in recommendation No. 1.

Section 2 relates to existing policy and licensing regimes. It examines all of the themes set out in the introduction to the report but, in the main, gives the background policy and statistics, which are contained in recommendations Nos. 2 to 15. Section 3 concerns developing strategies for rural and island communities. It examines all the main themes but does so, generally, from a more analytical perspective and identifies what are the most relevant policy and operational questions that need to be addressed at this stage. They are contained in recommendations Nos. 16 to 29. They vary extensively.

The sub-committee report makes a number of important recommendations to ensure Ireland's seas and coasts are managed effectively for the benefit of the communities that depend on them most.

It is imperative that Ireland's distinctive rural coastal areas and islands are developed in a sustainable manner into the future. As well as their rich influence on national culture and language, the communities have the potential to make a significant contribution to the wider economy in areas such as food, tourism and marine energy. The report seeks to chart an optimum course to sustainably develop our marine resources, ensuring that long-term economic and employment potential of the commercial aquaculture industry can be unleashed, while safeguarding Ireland's enviable reputation for seafood production. Any development of aquaculture is predicated on the implementation of a sound regulatory system, which has the confidence of the public and the European Commission.

The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine is preparing a submission on the consultation process on the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector. We had hearings last week and this week and will have one more next week before we conclude. It is timely that this issue is back on the agenda because potential is one thing but realising that potential in a sustainable fashion is another. The key theme we were trying to identify and highlight, which carries through the aquaculture sector, is the word "sustainable". As I have noted and as people have said, if the 20th century was about the industrial, mechanical and motor revolution in industry, the 21st century will be defined by the way all of the inhabitants of this planet can live sustainably on it without doing it permanent damage. Those of us who are involved in activities concerning our lands, seas and natural resources, and who have more knowledge of them, probably have more responsibility to ensure that this happens for future generations.

There are people I wish to thank and I will do so at the conclusion of the debate but I would like to acknowledge that the sub-committee's report was extensive. It is a quite a large document with a number of appendices and its has taken a considerable amount of time to prepare it. I would hate, regardless of who is in government, to think that the recommendations and themes of this report would not be adopted and implemented. We would like to think that the second Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth Conference was one of them which followed shortly after the first one. We would also like to think that the establishment of the regional inshore fisheries forums, RIFFs, was another. Its proposed establishment is contained in some of our recommendations. We would like eventually to see some our key themes with regard to aquaculture adopted when the new consultation process on a sustainable development plan for aquaculture is adopted. I will now hand over to my colleagues.

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