Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

I will restate the first paragraph of the motion which "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". It is worth mentioning that Ireland now has the biggest marine territory of any country in the European Union. As a result, we need to explore or map these territories for the long-term benefit of Ireland. The national marine mapping programme, INFOMAR, is a joint venture between the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Marine Institute and the successor of the Irish national seabed survey. Covering approximately 125,000 square kilometres of Ireland's most productive and commercially valuable inshore waters, INFOMAR will produce integrated mapping products covering the physical, chemical and biological features of the seabed. The mapping exercise has been long-running and is a necessary responsibility for a large marine territory.

The motion is relatively uncontentious and it could be argued that a motion in support of INFOMAR's activities is somewhat akin to supporting home-made bread and apple pie. It is not contentious as all Members are in favour of the mapping project. I commend the view expressed by Senator Keaveney that what really is at issue is the use of the outputs from the mapping programme. It could be argued in the context of an earlier debate on the Order of Business today that Members should be in the Chamber tonight to discuss the number of people in Ireland who are unable to pay their mortgages or the small businesses which cannot access finance or the plight of those many homes with unemployed young graduates.