Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the thrust of the Bill and wish to make a few points. The Bill concerns a provision for the transfer of functions which will help to expedite the issue of foreshore licences. The current system is antiquated and cumbersome. As a local authority member and a Deputy in the other House I have experienced severe delays in progressing sewage treatment plants. For example, in Bantry there was a delay of almost two years before a foreshore licence was issued which delayed the project. The same happened in Schull, Baltimore, Kinsale and Courtmacsherry, to name but a few cases. I am being parochial in this regard but those delays cost the State money because on one side a Department pulled back and on the other the Department which had finance wanted to drive the project forward. The sewage treatment plant in Bantry came 20 years too late. Raw sewage went into a bay which was the capital of the mussel industry. The matter has been resolved. The local authority and the county manager spoke about these schemes and were deeply concerned about the delay and the logistics of how the process operated in the past. It is to be hoped this might help to resolve the current situation.

On coastal zone management and the transfer of responsibility for dumping at sea to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, I do not want a situation like Lanigan's ball, where I step in, you step out and we all step in together and we are shifting the onus of blame from one person to another. I am concerned about this issue, which is an old chestnut of mine. The Minister of State might be able to give some answers before Committee Stage.

I am deeply concerned about the dumping and abandoning of vessels off the south-west coast, which is a serious issue and one which I am not sure is addressed in the Bill. Between Bere Island and Castletownbere a massive vessel called the Bardini Reefer lies in state with its mast sticking up. It is a danger to fishermen and the islands. The vessel was scuttled for an insurance scam but is still there. Who will remove that wreck?

The Kowloon Bridge, one of the largest freight vessels ever built in the history of the world and registered in eastern Europe to carry ore, was in Bantry Bay and we were afraid for our lives because it was a massive ship. The crew decided to take it 70 or 80 miles off Mizen Head in bad weather, called for help and abandoned the ship. The iron ore carrier sank to the bottom of the sea and ended up lying off the Stag's Head in a beautiful part of Baltimore. The Tribulus was another large vessel, owned by Shell, and in connection with which a diver lost his life when he came into Bantry Bay for shelter. Another vessel, the Ranga, was washed ashore at Slea Head and left there as an eyesore for years. This Bill may not address these issues but the ugly, rotting heap of metal lying between the harbour in Bere Island and Castletownbere should be looked at and perhaps the Minister of State might return to me on this issue in the future.

I compliment the Minister of State in his capacity as chairman of the interdepartmental committee known as the marine co-ordination group. It is not before time and is something for which I have always argued. It brings together various Departments to address coastal matters. My home town of Bantry is a tourist hub and places such as Whiddy Island attract tourists. There is an oil industry there as well as a very viable fish farming industry. We have the beautiful island of Garinish. There are many different links. Such matters have always been the focus of a single Department that has not been interested in what other Departments are doing. I hope the new co-ordinating group will be of benefit to people living in rural Ireland, especially in coastal areas.

I would like to make a point about Bantry Bay, which is the second biggest and finest bay in the world, without in any way being pejorative or awkward. The bay is about 20 miles deep and some parts of it are eight or nine miles wide. As far as I am aware, all the foreshore rights in the bay are traditionally vested in Bantry House or Lord Bantry. If that is the case, it is wrong and legislation should be introduced to correct it. Perhaps the Minister of State will check in advance of Committee Stage whether it is the case. My colleague, Senator Keaveney, recently made a similar point about Lough Foyle. Our links with colonial Britain should be severed once and for all. If Bantry House has to get some quid pro quo, so be it. These rights are of importance in Bantry if one is extending the pier, for example. When a new sewerage pipe scheme was undertaken along the foreshore recently, permission had to be sought and the rights had to be bought out from Bantry House. Some of the rights are now vested in Bantry Bay Harbour Commissioners. If this is the case in Bantry, it may be replicated in Kenmare, with Lord Kenmare being involved, and in other areas. It is something we should look at because it may cause headaches down the road if wind farms or wave energy projects are being considered. These issues should be resolved sooner rather than later in case there is a big find of oil or gas off our south-west coast.

I agree we have to be careful to protect our environment from dumping at sea. The Minister of State will be aware of the difficulties that were encountered when a €40 million fisheries harbour and pier project, which was funded by the Government and its predecessor, was being developed in Castletownbere. A contaminant known as TBT was found when the inner harbour was being dredged in advance of the project. The poisonous and toxic substance in question was skimmed from the silt residue and rolled into big lumps of concrete. We have to export such toxic waste to a recognised dump in Germany which is the only place in Europe that can accept it. The exact same problem is developing in Bantry. Under this Bill, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will continue to be responsible for places like Castletownbere, Killybegs and Dunmore East. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government will be responsible for ports that are not primarily associated with sea fishing, such as Bantry, Kinsale, Baltimore and Schull in west Cork. I do not have a problem with that.

The issue of contamination is an old chestnut of mine. I remember raising it with the then Minister for the Marine, John Wilson - God be good to him - when he visited Bantry in 1989. At the time, I was getting a few bob to do some hydrographic surveys, to see whether we could get our pier extended. Unfortunately, those tests indicated that this famous contaminant was present in Castletownbere. The tests also showed that mercury, which is a lethal contaminant, was present in the inner harbour. We have plans to dredge the inner harbour. I hope the necessary €3.5 million will be provided. The Minister of State might ask his colleagues whether that fund, which I fought for in the last Dáil, is still available. I am concerned about it. I accept it is expensive to skim off six or 12 inches of contaminated material, mothball it into a kind of concrete bollard and export it. The rest of the material can be dealt with easily. I hope a system of dealing with such issues can be put in place in the future.

I would like to be parochial for a moment by speaking about the issue of coastal zone management in south-west Cork and south Kerry. The Minister of State, who visited that area recently, will be aware of the huge potential for fish farming there. I was unable to be present on that occasion, unfortunately, because I had another commitment. I am sure the Minister of State had a wonderful visit to Cahermore, on the Beara Peninsula, which is the home of what is probably the biggest abalone farm in the northern hemisphere. I hope the farm can provide a few jobs in the area. We must not damage the potential for the aquaculture and mariculture industry to provide jobs, for example, in the farming of rope mussels, salmon, trout and abalone. I suggest that the industry is still in its infancy. It should not be sold out to the environmental lobby, for example, in the form of EU regulations or domestic guidelines relating to coastal zone management etc. If we are serious about trying to sustain jobs in remote parts of rural Ireland, we cannot allow a Department to cause problems by saying this and that cannot be done.

Similarly, at a recent meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, a delegation made the point that there are astronomical delays of five, six or seven years in the issuing of aquaculture licences. Perhaps the Minister of State can clarify whether that is the case. I am not trying to be awkward. If there are underlying reasons such licences cannot be issued more quickly, we should know about them.

I attended at a four-hour meeting with representatives of the fishing industry about the Common Fisheries Policy earlier today. Along with my colleague, Senator McCarthy, I supported the case that was made by the fishermen. There is huge potential in rural Ireland not only for the development of wind farms and wave energy, etc. but also for the development of fish farming. When I go to Schull or Skibbereen to buy sea bass for my dinner, I am surprised to learn it was farmed in Cyprus. It seems we are importing farmed fish from Indonesia, other parts of Asia and from South America. As an island community, we should be to the fore in this regard. Any regulations that are introduced should not cramp, stifle or put obstacles in the way of the development of the fish farming industry which has huge potential.

I would love to say much more about these matters. I might propose a couple of amendments on Committee Stage, which I normally would not do, to tease out issues like the foreshore rights in Bantry. Beidh lá eile againn.