Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I move:

That Seanad Éireann:

commends the Government's continued support of the national marine mapping programme, INFOMAR, on the tenth anniversary of its initiation as the Irish National Seabed Survey;

welcomes the findings of the independent economic study which has shown that the benefits of the work being undertaken are estimated at €275 million across a range of sectors;

acknowledges the valuable work that has been carried out in the mapping of over 82% of the currently designated Irish marine territory to date;

supports the policy of carrying out this vital infrastructural work which is underpinning key and economically significant offshore development in renewable energy, environmental protection, detection of our shipwreck heritage, improvement of fishing efficiency and safety of maritime transport.

I am not my party's spokesperson on the marine and must declare that my only interest in the sector stems from the fact that I live on the Foyle. There is a large fishing cohort in the area in which I live. Therefore, I welcome anything which considers how to put in place best practice in order that those involved in the fishing industry and other marine activities might achieve the best results.

I extend my sympathies to the families of the many Irish people, both young and old, who have been lost at sea. In recent times a young man from the area in which I live fell off a fishing vessel off the Orkney Islands and the fact that his body has not yet been found is adding to the distress experienced by his family. People in County Donegal are, however, no strangers obliged to cope with marine tragedies of this nature. I commend those who are at sea trying to provide for their families, either by fishing or working as rescue operators. They do tremendous work and are sometimes not recognised for it. If we mapped their activities, everyone would be extremely impressed.

I asked the Department to provide me with a specific figure to show how the national marine mapping programme, INFOMAR, would benefit County Donegal. The estimated value of the project to the fishing industry in the next 16 years is €95million. The overall benefit to the country of INFOMAR will be of the order of €275 million.

I accept that the intention is to improve the efficiency of the fishing industry by using the data and maps produced in order to target the best areas for fishing. This will lead to a reduction in the use of fuel, etc., and an improvement in fishing stocks. Some might state fishermen would have been in possession of this information in the first instance and that matters should have been discussed with them. However, while they are good at what they do, some fishermen have at times fished juvenile stocks or entered areas into which they should not have gone. As a result, certain stocks have depleted.

I recently read an article which emanated from the UK Parliament and which relates to cod stocks. It states the lifespan of a cod is 16 years but that cod are being caught at seven or eight years of age. Global warming is giving rise to changes in stocks of plankton and other creatures which fish eat. If species of fish have 16 years in which to adapt to such changes and develop accordingly, that is one thing. However, if fish are caught at a younger age, the implication is that the overall species will not be able to adapt to changes in climate, environment and the nature of the creatures on which they feed. I do not claim to be an expert on this matter but if fish are caught too young, then the species in general will not be able to evolve to cope with environmental changes.

I am glad the work being done is supported by that carried out at Georges Bank, Canada. The latter is already yielding results for local Canadian fishermen, which is an important aspect of this entire matter.

The data gathered by INFOMAR are being used to update charts and improve safety. When young people do not return from the sea, the issue of safety becomes extremely important. During the past decade there have been major improvements in safety. For example, the whitefish fleet was renewed and refurbished. I recall occasions when I complained about the fact that many of the boats in that fleet were 30 years or more old, that they were dangerous to work on and that their crews were being obliged to sail further afield in order to ensure they caught any fish. However, the fleet was eventually renewed and people will now state County Donegal obtained 16 of the new boats in the fleet and that most of these have either been sold or are up for sale because their captains are not able to catch enough fish to allow them to make the money necessary to meet their repayments.

The activities of INFOMAR are extremely important to my constituents. Even though it has reached its tenth anniversary, however, I am of the view that fishermen should be asked to give of their knowledge in order that this might inform the work of INFOMAR. The Mulroy Bay chart was updated - using INFOMAR data - when issues were raised about the approaches and access to the valuable aquaculture sites there. The fact that people can have an input is extremely important.

INFOMAR has mapped the entire offshore area of County Donegal beyond a depth of 20 m. Shallower waters such as those of the Foyle, Donegal Bay and Mulroy Bay have also been mapped as part of a number of LiDAR surveys carried out. I received some briefing material from the Department on why these surveys were being carried out. One of the reasons provided relates to sovereignty, the Continental Shelf, the international law of the sea, etc. I wish to refer to a matter, in respect of which there was a fudge when the British-Irish Agreement was concluded. Under the Agreement, Foyle Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission was to have responsibility for salmon fishing on the Foyle. However, it had already held this responsibility since the early 1950s.

It is interesting that the area has already been mapped. Knowing that this debate was due to be held, I submitted questions to the Department over a number of days on the sovereignty of the bed of the Foyle. However, I have still not received any answers. I accept that I am stirring up the sand and that someone somewhere will be hoping I do not say too much more. The Crown Estate claimed ownership of the bed of the Foyle until I challenged it. When I did so, the Crown Estate stated it would make no such claim until the two Governments had made a statement on the jurisdictional matter.

I am aware of the importance of mapping. The plan for the mapping carried out by INFOMAR is to consider how to co-ordinate activity, identify the location of good aquaculture resources, where there is potential for wind energy generation, where there is good marine leisure potential, etc. These are all things that we want. What I want is one body to oversee the planning and development relating to the major resource that is the Foyle and all of its tributaries. The people of the north west deserve to benefit from the economic advantage that can be gained from the marine leisure, angling, commercial and shipping activities that can be carried out on the Foyle.

At present, one body is responsible, on a cross-Border basis, for controlling salmon fishing on the Foyle and will soon have responsibility for dealing with matters relating to aquaculture. Why are we negotiating with the Crown Estate, given that it has told me it has no claim on the Foyle until the two Governments have sorted out the jurisdictional issue? In recent months I have worked closely with a number of politicians and non-politicians who have interests both in the Foyle and its tributaries and further afield. While attending the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly this weekend, I spoke to people from all backgrounds and thus far, no one has told me it is not a good idea. Moreover, under the St. Andrews Agreement, an evaluation of the processes and bodies is in place. I note my suggestion has been pooh-poohed by people from some Departments on our side who have stated it is an impossibility. However, my point is that it is not an impossibility for anyone else to whom I have spoken. My suggestion is that the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission should be expanded, broadened and rejigged to embrace all activity on the Foyle to achieve what this mapping project seeks, namely, a single overall plan. While I have taken a single example that could be spread right around the country, this point is quite specific and pertinent. We need an overall plan and a single body which in this context must be a cross-Border body such as the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission to implement the plan without third party interference or subsequent third party claims from the honourable Irish society, the Crown Estate, the duke of this or that. There is a serious problem when some people can tell anglers who have been fishing for many decades and whose groups have a membership of 500 that they can have two rods.

We have local knowledge that might be part of what will be thrown up by the mapping but we cannot develop the potential of this mapping study until such time as there is real engagement on who delivers on the results. How should it be blended together? There are pluses and minuses associated with the existing departmental responsibilities for the marine sector. It is disadvantageous to have seven Ministers or Ministers of State with responsibility for the marine. One could argue that this is advantageous because people such as the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, as well as his ministerial colleague, Deputy Gormley, and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry all have roles to play in this regard. While this means everyone is feeding into the process, I have been in politics for long enough to know that "feeding in" means that if one does not have responsibility for an issue, it will be at the end of one's list of priorities. Nevertheless, I accept that a subgroup under the Taoiseach has been established to deliver greater co-ordination in respect of the marine.

Ireland is an island surrounded by a valuable resource. It is of tremendous importance both to map what is there and that the Government should take our marine potential seriously. We should have training colleges nationwide to prepare for careers to do with the sea. We should support the marine tourism industry, which is not the case at present, as it constitutes an untapped resource. I am unsure how long INFOMAR intends to take to finalise the project, as it has done quite a lot of work already. However, by the time of its 15th anniversary, work on the next stage should be well under way, namely, the co-ordination of who is responsible for delivering on all the information it has collated.