Seanad debates

Wednesday, 15 October 2003

If the Minister is to have credibility, and whatever his investigations reveal, it would be very wrong that as flag bearer for an organisation such as the Marine Institute, people who have been engaged in wrongdoing retain directorships. The Marine Institute's new headquarters are being established in Oranmore and by 2004 a total of 1,400 people will relocate there. The Marine Institute works at the forefront of the business, being involved in research. The organisation which represents people working in aquaculture would contend that I am perfectly correct in saying that this would not be good for the industry in the long term. I appreciate that may be concerns about profitability or taking short cuts. I look forward to a thorough investigation of what happened in Donegal and Connemara. When the committee comes to discuss this it will hear from various representative organisations and will ask them pertinent questions and invite responses. Following that "Prime Time" programme the industry needs to respond in a positive fashion and the measures which the Minister of State has articulated in his speech should be taken into account. People do not deserve to be directors of semi-State boards if they are identified as being involved in any untoward activity such as the programme exposed.

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