John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I thank Members for facilitating this debate on the future of our indigenous fishing industry. I also thank Senators for their contributions and their positive response to the Cawley report. This report is the bible of the seafood industry for the future and it has received a general welcome in the House. I am also pleased Senator Keaveney has received good news about the Foyle. She has been fighting that for many years and I am sure she is pleased with the news today.

Senator Twomey raised the issue of research and development. Dr. Cawley produced a wide-ranging report on research, the development of new products, the creation of value added products, the improvement of quality, presentation and market research. He raised these issues in the report with the objective of maximising return from a sustainable fishery. We will proceed in implementing the thoughts and views of the report.

Senator O'Donovan welcomed the fact that the report was drawn up in consultation with the fishing industry. This was a key success of the report. We asked Dr. Cawley to draw up a seafood strategy for the future and to do so in conjunction with the sea fishing industry. He toured the country and, I am sure, had many debates, discussions and battles with the industry. However, I believe the industry had confidence in Dr. Cawley and, as a result, we have a strategy that has been drawn up with the involvement of the fishing industry. That is as it should be. Senator O'Donovan encouraged the fishing industry to work with Dr. Cawley and it is important that the strategy we have now is focused on what the industry wanted.

Senator O'Donovan also raised the issue of the increasing cost of fuel. I understand its impact in terms of profitability on fishing operations. Supports in the form of grants and schemes for more effective fishing gear are already in place. The high fuel costs will continue for some time and the Government's strategy is to address the fundamental issues in the sector through the removal of vessels from the fleet, thus making the remaining vessels more profitable as they will be permitted to land greater catches. It will also work with the industry to increase the value of the fish landed through a range of measures such as improved quality of landed fish, increased value added and focusing on the marketing of fish. The industry made a submission on the implications of the cost of fuel but, as Senators are aware, state aid is subject to what the EU decides. The matter of subsidies for French fishermen was raised, but doing things differently is the way forward. Senator McCarthy raised the issue of which Department should have responsibility for the fishing industry. Based on the Cawley report and the issues raised therein, I advocated, as a Minister of State in the outgoing Government, that it should be the responsibility of the then Department of Agriculture and Food. Fish is a food-based industry and it is only right that it should be based there. In addition, most EU countries have a Minister who deals with agriculture, food and fisheries, and now we have a similar set-up. It will result in better operations which will be advantageous to the industry. In addition, representatives of the fishing industry itself had requested that responsibility for the industry be given a permanent home, suggesting the Department of Agriculture and Food as being the most suitable place. The Taoiseach took that on board when he was making his decision.

Senator Bacik raised the issue of cockle fisheries. This is one of many traditional inshore fisheries and has been very important to coastal communities in my area and other parts of the country. The Government is committed to sustainable development of the cockle industry. Up to a year ago there was no management plan for this industry. I initiated a plan, but the current Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Ryan, who took over during the changeover, had to sign it off, and then we got into difficulties. The management plan is the way forward. Cockle fishing is a traditional industry which has been in existence since before the time of Molly Malone. We are speaking of a plan for managing an industry on which families depend. People earn an income from cockle fishing. We must strike a balance between the livelihoods of families and protection of the environment. I hope the cockle fishing industry will continue well into the future. We do not need Coastwatch or NGOs to tell us how to run the industry. They are entitled to give their opinion, but we must make decisions based on sustainability and we will continue to do so.

Senator O'Donovan wants to know whether I push Molly Malone's barrow. No, although I did in the past. Senator de Búrca made a valuable contribution in which she spoke about dividing the regulatory functions of Government with regard to seafood. We have already done that by setting up the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, which was recommended in the Cawley report. The Government accepted that recommendation and the authority is now in place. We will be dealing effectively with the industry in the future.

I thank all Senators, including Senators O'Sullivan and Keaveney, for their contributions. We will certainly consider the issues raised and we will work closely with Dr. Cawley. We have set up an implementation group which we wanted to keep independent and we asked him to stay on as chairman of the group. He is working with the industry and has had about four meetings with its representatives to date. We hope to see the fruits of this work early in the new year with the commencement of decommissioning and other strategies which he is anxious to implement as soon as possible.

I also thank my officials, Cecil and Josephine, for their contributions and for staying here with us all afternoon.