Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Deputies Michael Healy-Rae, Martin Ferris and Brendan Griffin have two minutes each to speak on the issue of harbour fees.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving us this opportunity. I speak on behalf of Jimmy Flannery, Tom Hand and all the boatmen who try to make a modest living taking passengers out into Dingle Bay, in particular to see Fungie the dolphin. These people have provided a great service in our tourism sector throughout the years and people have enjoyed these trips.

At present, however, these people are struggling with the cost of diesel and the increased charges they already have to pay. I shall give an example of what the proposed new charges will mean. The fishing boat is exactly the same as the passenger boat. The proposed annual charges would mean a charge of €1,215 for a fishing boat but €6,290 for a passenger boat. We must make a clear distinction here today. These people are trying to make their living in what may be as little as a three or four week period whereas passenger boats in other parts of the country are not only subsidised but have all-year-round business. These people have a very short and narrow window of opportunity. If July or August is bad they may have a very bad season and end by losing money.

I spoke to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, in recent weeks about this matter. I plead with him to make a special category or section to ensure that these kind of boats will be recognised for what they do. I compliment the Government if it is trying to create new jobs in other sectors and wish it well in that work. I plead with the Government to look at the jobs we have and to try to help people continue in their work. This is a typical example. The people operating in Dingle do not want anything from anyone except fair play and to be left alone to make their living. I ask the Minister not to increase the harbour charges on these men and hunt them out of business and onto the dole queue. The Government should think about its mantra about jobs and change it slightly to protect the jobs we have. These people are minding their own business and providing an invaluable, safe service to those who visit County Kerry. I want them to be able to continue and, in the years after we leave this House, I want their families to continue the proud tradition of seeing after our visitors and taking them onto the sea in a safe and happy fashion. I plead with the Minister to help them out in this regard. I am relying on the Minister.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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I am grateful to speak on this matter with my colleagues from Kerry, Deputies Healy-Rae and Martin Ferris. I understand other Kerry Deputies have made representations to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Coveney, as I have. I have held meetings with a number of delegations in Dingle and they expressed concern at the Fishery Harbour Centres (Rates and Charges) Order 2012. This affects not just tour operators operating boats to see Fungi but also people who have yachts in the marina and commercial fishermen. All groups are concerned about potential increases in charges to use Dingle Harbour.

At a time when the State needs to do everything possible to assist business and those contributing to economic activity in the locality and creating employment, we should not increase fees. Some people are paying €2,000 and will potentially have to pay three or four times that amount. If we were to suggest to any business owner that rates could increase by that amount, we would be told where to go. I ask the Minister to consider carefully the submissions made to the Department before the deadline of 20 April. The Minister should carefully consider the submissions and not just go with the draft prepared by officials in his Department.

I thank the Minister for engaging with me on this matter. He gave me a commitment to examine this carefully. I hope he will come up with a common sense solution to this problem. The people who come to Dingle to see Fungi are dependent on the service, as are the fishermen and the yachts that come into Dingle. If the charges increase, we will jeopardise all three categories. Yachts will not come into Dingle, fishermen will find it impossible to operate and one of the oldest and most successful attractions in west Kerry will be jeopardised. I am not prepared to stand over that and I hope common sense will apply.

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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This is a co-ordinated approach by the three Kerry Deputies present to highlight a huge injustice. Dingle has traditionally been dependent on fishing and, in recent years, on passenger tourism through yachts and sailing boats coming to the area. The knock-on effect contributes greatly to the economy. In current circumstances, the major downturn in the economy is caused by a lack of spending power. In its stupidity, the Government is trying to take more money out of the community's pocket. It affects not just boat owners on their passenger boats but also the spending this generates through the number of people who travel out to see Fungi. That has been a huge tourist attraction on the west Kerry peninsula since 1994. This decision is taking spending power out of the community and, by doing so, putting more people on the live register. More are condemned to the scourge of emigration. A small amount of common sense is needed.

How can any Minister justify the increase from €2,000 or €2,400 to €8,000 or €9,000? It is an increase of 300% and will take €100 out of each boat every week. One must also bear in mind the major increase in fuel and diesel charges, the increase in insurance charges and the ancillary charges for water and refuse. The Government talks about creating jobs but if it is serious about maintaining jobs, it should revisit this decision. The 2003 order was reasonable. In hard times, the passenger boat people continue to work. There are very few commercial fishermen left in Dingle but they continue to work and they bring money to the local economy. It is ludicrous to take money out of a struggling economy.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I am responding to this debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Simon Coveney. I am pleased to have the opportunity to deal with, and provide some clarity on, the concerns raised by Deputies Martin Ferris, Griffin and Healy-Rae. The Deputies referred to the draft new rates and charges order for the six fishery harbour centres. The recently published draft new rates and charges order sets out the first proposed changes in almost a decade to the fee schedule for the use of the facilities at each of the six fishery harbour centres, located at Dingle, Castletownbere, Dunmore East, Howth, Killybegs and Rossaveel. The draft was published following an extensive review of the existing rates and charges order for the fishery harbour centres that came into effect in 2003. The 21 day period for public consultation closed on Friday, 20 April. Some 85 submissions were made, of which six were from fishermen's representative groups, two from individual fishermen, 18 from the tourism and marine leisure sector, 12 from passenger vessel operators, one from a local authority, 15 from marine business interests in the fishery harbour centres, six from harbour users groups and islanders, and 25 from private individuals. This is a significant response from a wide range of stakeholders in our fishery harbour centres and the Minister is gratified to see the level of interest and commitment they represent.

The responses will be examined closely by the Department and all submissions will be given full consideration before the new order is finalised. It is important to stress the public consultation process provides a valuable opportunity for the Minister and the Department to hear and consider the concerns of our customers. No decision on the final text of the new rates and charges order will be taken until all submissions made by the stakeholders have been fully considered and evaluated.

It may be useful at this stage to explain the background to the funding mechanism involved in the day-to-day management of the six fishery harbour centres. The Fishery Harbour Centres Act 1968 sets out the mechanism to be employed in funding the day-to-day operational costs of the six fishery harbour centres. All income received at each of the six fishery harbour centres is effectively lodged to what is known as the fishery harbour centres fund. All the day-to-day running costs of each fishery harbour centre are in turn financed from the fishery harbour centres fund. It is the only source of income available to fund the day-to-day operational and management expenditure at the fishery harbour centres. Examples of regular expenditure include harbour master and staff salaries, electricity, lighting, water and fuel costs, cleaning and maintenance, etc. It is important to reiterate that all income lodged to the fishery harbour centres fund is invested directly in fishery harbour centres to the benefit of harbour users.

The rates and charges order is the legal instrument that enables charges to be levied that provide the income necessary for the provision of the various services at the fishery harbour centres. There have been no increases in rates and charges since the current charges were set almost ten years ago in 2003. I am fully aware of the need not to increase costs unduly for the industry at this time. At the same time it is important the proposed new rates and charges are set at a level sufficient to provide adequately for the costs involved while balancing the need to finance the management of the harbours with the needs of the various harbour customers.

I will highlight some of the features of the proposed new charges which were prepared in response to requests from industry. General fish landing tonnage charges set for all whitefish and fishmeal have not been increased in the draft order. A new single entry charge has been introduced as an alternative to the annual multiple entry charge structure in place since 2003. To facilitate operators, an alternative €400 single entry charge has been provided in the draft order. This new charge is to be available as an alternative, at the discretion of the operator, to the other annual multiple entry charge for fish landings outlined in the draft order. It is not an additional charge, as has been suggested by some, but is an alternative to facilitate operators who may find this more satisfactory for their operations. Charges for syncrolift use have been the subject of complaints from users for some time and in recognition of that, the charge for prolonged use has been halved, from €400 per day to €200 per day. Also to ensure the charge is fair, the Minister has introduced an exception to facilitate an inspection by a government body, for example, where a vessel is awaiting inspection by the Marine Survey Office.

The consultation process seeks to provide a platform to ensure as fair and equitable a levying of charges as is possible. The Department will, as I have said, consider all submissions made by the public and they are willing to meet with interested parties to discuss the draft rates and charges order, to provide any necessary clarification and to listen to and consider alternative suggestions to the individual charges included in the draft order. It is only then, when the Minister has reflected on all the matters raised in the consultation process that he will finalise a new rates and charges order for the harbours.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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I want to take the Minister up on the offer of his officials meeting with representatives from Dingle as soon as possible to discuss their submission. At a time when they are struggling to manage their finances, we cannot impose increases. Their fuel bill is now double what it was a couple of years ago. How can they manage to pay more? They cannot do it. I will rely on the Minister as he is one of the few people in the House who would have sailed a boat into Dingle harbour on many occasions. He knows where he is talking about and I appreciate that. I hope common sense will apply and a special consideration will be made.

On the issue of the yachts, this problem could lead to a dangerous situation. People who might have pulled into Dingle harbour may now decide to stop away from the pier and use small pontoons to come in rather than come into the safety of the harbour. This could be dangerous. It should be remembered that it is better to get a small amount of money from people than to get no money or to stop them coming in altogether. That would rob our town of business. Also, further taxes would be accrued were people to spend money in the town. Dingle has worked very hard to get to where it is today. I do not want the Government to do anything that would pull Dingle down, cost jobs and money and take people out of viable valuable work and put them on the dole queues. We do not want that.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response and I welcome the commitment to ensure that all submissions will be closely examined and considered. As a resident of the Dingle peninsula, I know that the people who have made submissions will be grateful that they will be considered carefully and, hopefully, acted on.

I welcome some of the positive aspects of the draft plan and I acknowledge that progressive steps have been taken. Unfortunately, the charges are a major issue. It was one of the first issues I raised here following my election in April last year. I raised the issue that the existing charges were so high and that any further increase would be completely unacceptable. I too welcome the offer to arrange a meeting between officials and concerned parties from Dingle. I have contacted the Minister's office and asked him to meet with some of the individuals involved and hopefully that will happen.

This is a very important issue for the people of Dingle. It may not be a big issue in the overall scheme of things as far as the Department is concerned. However, it is very important in west Kerry. Fungi is a very important attraction in west Kerry. He does not have a voice for himself and we need to speak on his behalf. The fishing industry is hugely important to Dingle, as is the business generated from it and from yachts coming into Dingle. We need to protect that and to do everything possible to protect the jobs associated with it. I ask that everything possible is done to accommodate the requests and submissions made by the various parties.

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. One only has to look at the number of submissions, 85, to get an indication of how seriously people view the situation in the Dingle and west Kerry peninsula area and further afield. The point made by Deputy Healy-Rae about boats anchoring outside the harbour and the dangers that presents should not be ignored. Even people with yachts now find things more difficult, because everybody is hurting at this point. I am glad Department officials will meet the local community and fishermen. That is a positive move and I welcome it. There is a role for us as public representatives to ensure that comes about.

On a lighter note, some years ago on 1 April a report was broadcast on the news that Fungi had been shot by someone from Dublin. If these charges go ahead, the Minister will be held responsible for getting rid of Fungi.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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As Deputies may know, I come from a county that also relies heavily on its maritime tradition, one that brings many benefits to the local economy, and I am more than aware of the sensitivities that surround this issue in Kerry. My only participation in marine leisure activities has been as a windsurfer, but I do not envisage sailing into Dingle any time soon on my sail board. That would be a bit of a trek.

The Minister was very anxious to point out in his response that he is more than willing to consider seriously all of the submissions received and to meet with those who made those submissions in order to hear their concerns and suggestions as to how best the negative effects of the proposed charges can be ameliorated. I suggest that the Deputies begin that process of arranging a meeting and get the process of consultation under way. I am confident the outcome of those negotiations and discussions will be very positive.