Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am asking questions. My Adjournment matter is to ask the Minister to clarify this. I am making statements but I am open to hearing an answer.

Why did this meeting take place while the Minister is still making up his mind? Why were the other 21 companies not invited?

There is a serious issue about Deputy McHugh’s role. He lobbied heavily for Marine Harvest on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I have several quotations from him. We now know that as Minister of State he has responsibility for Inland Fisheries Ireland, IFI, and Údarás na Gaeltachta which funds fisheries in that area. Serious questions are being asked about that. According to the minutes, Marine Harvest says it needs a champion to drive forward the interests of the industry. The question I have been asked to put to the Minister is whether this champion is Deputy McHugh. He has lobbied for Marine Harvest for several years and according to himself was the person who facilitated this meeting with the Taoiseach and the Minister. He is now in charge of IFI, and Údarás na Gaeltachta, which has invested €1.3 million in the south Connemara salmon farms. Was the Minister of State given this responsibility to keep IFI in check because it opposes the fish farm proposals, to drive forward the industry and co-ordinate interactions with the EU Commission?

The signs in favour of the sea farm are no longer as clear cut as they were. I am on record as having supported this farm at the outset from the point of view of growth in the industry and of jobs, but it has been unravelling. The Minister says structural changes are taking place in the Irish Marine Institute to advance the science. Will the Minister clarify what that means? The size and bulk of the farm is also an issue because of the threat to the environment and the local fishing and angling industry. I am more concerned about what seems to be a cosy relationship. Since this was brought to my attention, it is important to have the truth on the record. This freedom of information revelation must rule Marine Harvest out of the running for this licence.