Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

Will the Leader make time available, as soon as possible, for a debate on the aquaculture industry and on mariculture, a branch thereof? The aquaculture industry has been neglected and in the past I criticised Governments of which my party was a part in that regard. For example, there is a seven-year wait to obtain aquaculture licences. Let us consider what has been achieved in Norway, Scotland, France and Chile where coastal waters are used to provide jobs. For example, at one stage some 50,000 people were employed in the mussel industry in Chile. As an island nation in a time of recession, the creation of employment along our coastline is critical.

Will the Leader ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Simon Coveney, to come before the House to debate the specific direction in which the aquaculture industry is going? The industry has been bogged down for a number of years. Bord Iascaigh Mhara and those involved in aquaculture and mariculture produced figures in the early 1990s when the target to be achieved in respect of exports was 50,000 tonnes. Those figures indicated that the level of production never exceeded 10,000 tonnes. Regardless of whether one considers the position in Scotland, France or Norway during the same period, one will discover that production in these countries far exceeded that in Ireland. This indicates that something is radically wrong with the industry in this country.

I am not seeking that money be injected into the aquaculture industry because the latter could be self-financing in its own way and could assist in creating employment. What I want is for the industry to get out of the rut into which it has fallen. I have no doubt that several thousand jobs could be created along our coastline. I request that time be made available for a debate specifically confined to aquaculture and mariculture in order that we might discover how we might map our way forward in the context of creating jobs. Perhaps the Minister, who might bring a new impetus to bear, could help get this industry out of its current rut.