Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for her detailed presentation on the Cawley report and what it will do for the fishing industry. Historically, Irish people ate fish only on a Friday and there is a certain amount of guilt relating to what we have done to the fishing industry in this country in the past 30 years, especially since we joined the European Union. There have been many problems in our fishing industry. One would have thought a clear policy would have been formulated many years ago on an industry confined to the sea, harbours, fishing boats, fishermen and so on. Given how things are structured, one would have thought a report such as this on the fishing industry would have been possible many years ago. Conflicts in the fishing industry and mutual antagonism between the Government and fishermen have led to many of the difficulties that have brought us to this point.

I find it interesting that the Minister's speech and a report should refer to mutual respect between groups in the fishing industry. One would expect that all parties involved, including the Government, the Department, processors and fishermen, would have mutual respect for each other without a need to write such comments in an official report. This indicates that things have gone wrong in the industry because people have not worked together. It is interesting that only now, as fish stocks decline, are we examining what we are doing in the industry. Policy decisions in recent years have seemed haphazard in areas such as the commissioning of fleets, the decommissioning of fleets, paying out and not paying out grants.

I would like the Minister to expand on her comments on research and development because this area is very weak in the fishing and seafood industries in Ireland and profitability is a problem. We must be clear on what needs to be done in terms of research and development and there are two approaches. Research and development can be carried out while the fish are still in the sea or as part of processing and marketing. In Kilmore Quay, County Wexford, lobsters were tagged for many years and people worked together, throwing those considered too young back into the water, and this helped to develop a sustainable lobster fishing industry. There was a small research institution there and fishermen worked together to subsidise it. This is a model of what can be done throughout the country.

There is an idea that there is great antagonism in coastal communities to fish farming and lobster pots in the bay area and this has created problems. Many of these problems stem from a lack of communication and direction in the industry for many years. When we discuss policy it should be clear what is happening in this regard. Ministers, especially the Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries, must be clear on policy and must not take a hands-off approach that allows people to feel they can do as they wish. An able Minister, a former Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries, with plenty of experience of the fishing industry ran into all manner of problems when he sought to deal with issues affecting fisheries.

It is important we do not try to diminish the scale of the problem in this debate. We must be clear on what we want. Many processing plants have closed. Two people in the House at the moment fully understand the issue at Castletownbere and I grew up in west Cork and go on holidays there. Every night articulated trucks leave Castletownbere to head for ferries in Rosslare Harbour, near where I live. The fish are not processed but are simply put on ice before going straight to France. When the fish come off the boats in Castletownbere little is done except to add some extra ice. This occurs every night.

When we discuss added value we must be clear what we will do because we have some good niche markets in this country in value added to fish. Some people smoke salmon and do extraordinary things with fish but these markets and producers are small and cannot develop their areas on the grand scale we are discussing for 2015. The Minister must provide some direction if she is serious about adding value in the fishing industry. As she observed, there is neither the wherewithal nor the resources within the industry itself to do so. It seems like a very valuable and profitable industry in view of the figures we have seen, but we know there are not huge profits to be made. Neither is there the will and inclination within the industry to provide the level of investment required for research and development. The industry requires direction from the Government. It needs to see that the Government has faith in the sector. We must rid ourselves of the Friday mentality, so to speak, we have in regard to the fishing industry, the part of our mindset that says fishing is not so important. We are losing out significantly because of this.

We have no idea how much fish has been taken from the Irish Sea in the past 30 years. We are certain, however, that there are insufficient stocks to continue fishing as we have done heretofore. Every boat in the world seems to have fished in the Irish Sea. What will be done to protect stocks? What plan has the Government to secure funding from the EU or to provide it from its own resources to put in place a coastguard service that would include a fishery protection role to prevent the illegal removal of fish from the Irish Box? Many people play by the rules and are frustrated to see others becoming wealthy from not doing so. This is wholesale throughout the industry. The Irish Sea is one of the most productive environments in Europe for fish and we must protect it. There should be EU funding to provide fast, easily manoeuvrable boats to patrol the waters and protect what are now considered the fish stocks of Europe.

Aquaculture is being undertaken in numerous locations in the State, generally in bays and estuaries. One of the greatest challenges faced by this industry is our failure to deliver adequate sewage treatment infrastructure. Ireland is fortunate to have a clean image. People who come to this country from places such as France or the United States, where people are fussy about their food, know they are getting the best fish when they eat it in Dingle, Kinsale or Kilmore Quay. The Minister must liaise with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to ensure sewage treatment plants in important waterways are adequate. It is not farming effluent that is destroying our rivers and seas but, in many cases, our inability to deal with human effluent which is simply being run into rivers and seas. This is damaging to aquaculture throughout the State.

I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, who has entered the Chamber, will give Members a clear idea of what he would like to see happening in the fishing industry. He has visited Brussels on numerous occasions and is deeply involved in the industry. I seek clear and incisive explanations from him of what the Department intends to do. I hope he will speak about the need to protect the livelihoods and interests of fishermen in coastal communities but also about how to develop the fishing industry. We must take on board the importance of conservation, processing, adding value and undertaking research and development. Such an approach could have a massive impact on the fishing industry but it has been absent in the past ten years. I hope the Government can offer Members a clear policy with a little more fish on the bone.