Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy. He has raised a really important issue, which is that fishing is really about protecting and preserving our coastal communities through gainful employment by way of the natural resources available to those communities. The reality is that the scientific advice clearly indicates that wild stocks are being depleted for a multiplicity of reasons. These include overfishing by third countries, particularly Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland, of important pelagic stocks. Climate change is undoubtedly having an impact, with other aspects of the environment also having an impact.

We have an opportunity on the aquaculture side to do much more to protect and preserve livelihoods in these communities. I do not accept that we cannot do better in terms of the delivery of the licences. We must give certainty and security to the families who, in the main, operate these businesses. They have invested their hard-earned money and their blood, sweat and tears to get themselves to a certain point, only to find they cannot get their licence renewed. As the Deputy rightly noted, the section 19A(4) process allows them to continue but prevents them from getting the appropriate grants they need to advance their business. It is incumbent on us to get this right.

I have had quite a number of meetings. Last Thursday, I was at the Marine Institute trying to get to the bottom of what else we need to do. Additional resources have been provided and we have taken on extra head count. We are making progress but the progress made to date is not good enough. I have to take responsibility for that. I will continue to drive to get a better system in place with the structures that are there. I want to review the structures to see whether we can make changes, legitimately and legally, or whether it will be necessary to bring forward amending legislation and look at the overall structure of the way the licensing regime works in order to ensure it will be more fit for purpose and will deliver appropriately while also protecting and preserving the environment and ecology of areas and delivering for local communities.

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