Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill and also welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, and his officials.

This Bill has been expected. It has been a long time on the horizon and it has arrived at last. Looking over the debate pack compiled for us by the library and research team, which was quite informative and well researched, I noted some interesting exchanges and contributions made in the Dáil during the last term. I will refer to a couple of those before I conclude because they are certainly worth reflecting on at this time. In the absence of a crystal ball in the political sphere, it is always amazing when one makes a comment in Opposition and then become a Minister. One wonders whether the philosophy underpinning one's contribution to this issue is still as strong as it was on that occasion.

One point I want to make about the Bill in its entirety is about the area of fisheries, marine, the management of waterways, coastal communities and coastal economies. There is a considerable level of fragmentation in the way we handle fisheries and marine issues. In his contribution, for example, the Minister stated the Department has overall policy responsibility for the conservation, management, regulation and development of the inland fisheries resource, but went on to mention that other agencies such as the Marine Institute, the Loughs Agency, Bord lascaigh Mhara and the ESB also play an important role. In terms of Departments, the Departments of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and Agriculture, Food and Fisheries are involved. There are a significant amount of stakeholders involved at a strategy level, and that is not helpful. In terms of an overall marine strategy, in terms of having one Department, one Minister and a co-ordinated comprehensive approach to all the issues contained in this and all the issues and responsibilities that are also being handled by other Departments, it is not helpful in the political context, or in the economic context given the climate we are currently experiencing, that there is so much fragmentation about an area that is so rich and could be used to reboot certain sections of the economy.

In my contribution at the Labour Party conference in Galway over the weekend, I stated that for every one job created at sea, 1.2 jobs are created on land. This kind of evidence is coming from organisations such as the ESRI which states, on its multiplier, that every €1 generated in a seafood company generates €4.60 in the local economy. It is one of those areas where, if we apply a co-ordinated comprehensive strategic approach, we can look at such matters and reboot the local economy providing jobs and a much needed lift to areas dependent on small indigenous industry to survive. As the Minister will be aware, there are many communities that depend largely on such seasonal industries, which are small but very important in terms of coastal and rural economies.

There is a number of points I want to make on the restructuring process. The functions of the new authority will be largely based on those of the existing central and regional fisheries boards. The new authority will, however, establish and manage a national inland fisheries forum, the deliberations of which will provide a stakeholder input. How strong will that input be? The Minister spoke about extending the involvement of stakeholders being the philosophy that underpinned the organisation. Will this be enshrined in law?

Provision is made for the composition of the authority and the method of appointment of members to it, including criteria to be met by potential appointees. Provision is also made for the election of a staff representative to the authority. Has there been extensive consultation with the workers and unions involved? How will their terms and conditions of employment be protected in the move to the new authority? Will the embargo on recruitment in the public service impact on the authority's staffing requirements? What is the extent of the staffing requirements of the new structure? Has a root and branch analysis of this aspect been made?

Is there a hard figure for how much the restructuring will save the Exchequer? The Minister claims it will lead to a saving of €300,000 per annum. Where will such savings emerge? Every Member is agreed on the need for more efficient and effective management of inland fisheries resources and more integrated policy formulation. Assurance was given by the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, that the headquarters of the north-west fisheries board would remain open in Ballina, County Mayo. Will buildings for the authority be leased? Will extra resources be made available to cover the costs of meeting the authority's accommodation needs? Regarding accountability, who in the Department is in charge of this aspect of the plan? There must be an element of value for money in this regard.

How extensive was the Minister's consultations with the chief executive officers of the various fisheries boards? How much of this shaped the legislation? The chief executive officers would have had strong local knowledge of the issues affecting their fisheries, as well as knowing the workings of their organisations. I assume the Department's objective is to prevent creating another authority lsuch as the Health Service Executive which in 2000 was to cure all the ills of the health board structure but which instead has become a bureaucratic mess, requiring much money to sustain it and lacking accountability and transparency. Before the HSE, the health board structure had a local decision-making element to it. Now it is centralised; applications for the over-70s medical card being handled in Finglas, Dublin, is one example. Such a move removes the local element from the process, as well as the influence of local elected representatives. It is unhealthy for democracy, makes the job of a public representative more difficult and does not augur well in creating new agencies. I hope the Minister and his Department will avoid a repeat of this with the new Inland Fisheries Authority.

Greater investment is needed in coastal communities. What role will those with the commercial resources and opportunity to invest in such communities have in fisheries policy formulation?

Will a group be set up to monitor the establishment of the authority and ensure value for money and accountability in the process? What power would such a group have, if it were in place, to enforce obligations on the new authority? The last thing we need is for the new authority to be established, given extra powers and allowed set off into the sunset only to discover later that it was not such a success as originally envisaged. Who will be accountable to the Houses of the Oireachtas for the workings of the authority? When a Member tables questions to a Minister, say the Minister for Health and Children, on a health matter, very often he or she will be informed it comes within the HSE's jurisdiction, not the Minister's. We must remember the role of a public representative is being consistently undermined by the creation of quangos. We must ensure it does not happen with the proposed Inland Fisheries Authority.

The postponement of the elections to the fisheries boards was once described by a Member of the Lower House as a cowardly act. It is a turn of political fortune that this Member is now the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. I am sure Deputy Ryan is as glad as we are to see the conclusion of this business with this legislation.