Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

I compliment the Minister, Deputy Quinn, on his U-turn regarding DEIS schools, approximately 20 of which are in my constituency. It seems that the sideline tactics of Labour Party Deputies and Senators at parliamentary party level have reaped rewards. That is a welcome and important movement.

I would like to ask the Leader for a specific debate on the aquaculture and mariculture industries. The Leader mentioned yesterday that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, will come to the House later this month for a discussion on fisheries. Much of the produce of our fish farming industry - salmon, trout, scallops, mussels and oysters, etc. - is exported. That adds to the value of our national exports. The success of our exports is very important to this country at present. The fish farming industry seems to be at a standstill by comparison with places like Scotland, Norway and France. We are really in the penny farthing place, on a per capita and pro rata basis, when compared to many European countries in our development of this industry. While the special debate I am seeking is not of immediate urgency, perhaps it could take place before the Easter break. There is huge potential for jobs to be created here.

I had the fortune many years ago to visit a town in Chile - Puerto Montt, which is 300 km or 400 km south of Santiago - where 50,000 people were employed in the fish farming industry. One of the factors hindering our efforts to create such jobs here is the fact that it can take six or seven years for mussel or salmon farming licences to be issued. I criticised several Ministers in the last Government for such delays. A special debate on fish farming is deserved and warranted. We need to reflect on how we can create jobs in this industry. We should compare ourselves to our neighbours in Scotland, whose achievements in meeting their potential in terms of job creation, exports and value to the economy are ten times greater than ours. I am not blaming the Government. It seems to be an endemic problem. I hope a substantial debate on the matter, in addition to the general debate on fishing that the Leader has kindly told us will take place before this month is out, can be facilitated in this House before Easter.