Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 249: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the action, in chronological order, he, his Department, or the North-South Ministerial Council have taken for North-South co-operation on inland fisheries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5741/08]

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 252: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the action, in chronological order, he, his Department or the North-South Ministerial Council have taken for North-South co-operation on aquaculture and the marine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5759/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 249 and 252 together.

My Department, along with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland, are joint sponsoring Departments of the Loughs Agency of the Foyle Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission, which is a North South Body set up under the British-Irish Agreement Act, 1999. The Loughs Agency took over the functions of the Foyle Fisheries Commission, and is responsible for the conservation, protection and improvement of the fisheries in the Foyle and Carlingford areas. It is required to promote the development of Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough for commercial and recreational purposes in the area of marine, fishery and aquaculture matters, including the development and the licensing of aquaculture.

Cooperation at Department level is ongoing on a continuous basis. This is necessary to affect the corporate governance and policy direction of the Agency. Cooperation at Ministerial level is facilitated through the North South Ministerial Council, Aquaculture & Marine Sector meeting, the first of which, since restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly, was held on 21 November 2007. The Council noted progress made since the last meeting in 2002 and took the opportunity to discuss cooperation in the aquaculture and marine sector specifically by the Loughs Agency. At our meeting the Ministers welcomed the passing of legislation in both jurisdictions in 2007, which provided the Loughs Agency with the powers to regulate aquaculture and wild shell fisheries in both the Foyle and Carlingford areas. We also welcomed the introduction of a hardship package to provide a measure of relief to those affected by the cessation of the commercial salmon fishing in the Foyle area.

The Council also noted the Agency's future plans in the Aquaculture and Marine Sector for the period 2008-2010 including actions to maintain the sustainability of fisheries in both the Carlingford and Foyle catchments; the introduction of a regulatory and licensing regime for aquaculture in the Foyle and Carlingford Areas; the improvement of the angling licensing system; bringing forward a Marine Tourism Development Strategy; and we also approved the Loughs Agency's Corporate Plan for the period 2008-2010 and Business Plan for 2008. I attended the Council meeting and the Northern Ireland Executive was represented by Minister Michelle Gildernew and Minister Ian Paisley Junior.

Ongoing informal cooperation at official level between my Department and the relevant Departments in Northern Ireland responsible for inland fisheries matters as well as State agencies on both sides of the border continues in the areas of policy, fisheries management and research. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has broader responsibility for north/south cooperation in relation to aquaculture and likewise, the Department of Transport in relation to marine issues.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 250: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the efforts made to bring together those with executive responsibilities in Northern Ireland and the Irish Government to develop consultation, co-operation and action within the island of Ireland in the area of electricity connectivity, in particular the region west of the Bann, which includes Derry city and Letterkenny; if the North-South Ministerial Council deems such connectivity as a matter of mutual interest within the competence of the Administrations, North and South, under strand two of the Good Friday Belfast Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5742/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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While the energy sector is outside the formal work programme of the North South Ministerial Council established under the Good Friday Agreement, there has been excellent co-operation on energy matters between the two administrations, North and South, over recent years. My Department is working closely with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to progress cooperation on energy matters to mutual economic and social benefit under the All-Island Energy Market Development Framework published jointly in 2004.

The successful launch of the Single Electricity Market on November 1st 2007 has established a wholesale electricity market on an all-island basis which will enhance competition and security of supply in the interests of business and consumers. The Single Electricity Market is underpinned by the physical interconnection between the electricity systems North and South. Currently there is one major interconnector between the two grids. The interconnector from Louth to Tandragee consists of a 275 kV double circuit overhead line with a maximum capacity of approximately 300MW. Work on a second major North-South electricity interconnector which will double transfer capacity is underway and is due for completion by 2012. The project is being undertaken by the Transmission System Operators, EirGrid in the South and SONI in the North.

In relation to connectivity in the North West, there are 110 kV cross border links between Letterkenny and Strabane and Enniskillen and Corraclassy. These act as backup support to the networks on both sides of the border. EirGrid has recently secured approval from the EU Commission to fund feasibility studies to investigate possible future cross border interconnection. Work will begin on the new studies shortly.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 251: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the efforts made to bring together those with executive responsibilities in Northern Ireland and the Irish Government to develop consultation, co-operation and action within the island of Ireland in the area of broadband connectivity, in particular the region west of the Bann, which includes Derry city and Letterkenny; if the North-South Ministerial Council deems such connectivity as a matter of mutual interest within the competence of the Administrations, North and South, under strand two of the Good Friday Belfast Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5750/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Although the broadband sector is outside the formal work programme of the North South Ministerial Council, my Department and Northern Ireland's Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) enjoy an excellent working relationship. My Department is involved as a joint partner in cooperation with DETI in a number of broadband projects, which take place under the EU funded Interreg Cross Border Cooperation Programme. This is governed by the Special EU Programmes Body which was set up under the Good Friday Agreement.

Under the Interreg III Cross Border Programme 2000-2006, cooperation between the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR) and DETI took place on the six projects outlined below. The amounts shown below are the total cost or expenditure on each project, including the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and DETI and DCENR match funding contributions. Note that the first two projects are located in the North West region of Ireland.

1. Niran/HEAnet project — €506,000

This project links Letterkenny Institute of Technology to the Northern Ireland Regional Area Networking (NIRAN) Derry network. €506,000 of Interreg funding was granted to the two third level bodies that manage the Third Level network in the North West: NIRAN and HEAnet, (the Republic's National Education and Research Network). This means that the entire HEAnet Third Level education and research network in the South is connected to Northern Ireland's equivalent NIRAN network. The then Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, and Minister for Enterprise Trade and Investment launched the project on October 9th 2006.

2. Community Network Services project — €250,000

The CNS project, which was approved for €250,000 Interreg funding, aims to bring broadband to large swathes of Donegal, to enable the communities to communicate more efficiently with each other. With a large migratory workforce along the Donegal border, this proposal is seen as having a genuine cross border benefit in the North West despite the infrastructure being wholly located in Donegal (bridging the digital divide). Works are ongoing on this project.

3. Bytel Broadband link between Belfast and Dublin — €4.3m

The Bytel project provided an additional 2.5 GB service between Belfast and Dublin. There are break-out points in Dundalk, Drogheda, Armagh and Newry, with further optional break out points costed at about €15,000. The project is price competitive for the leased line business and has removed the border as an international barrier. A backhaul link has also been created from Monaghan via Armagh for the Monaghan Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) and a revenue sharing deal has been agreed between Bytel and e-Net which manages the Monaghan MAN.

4. Blackwater Valley — €163,000

This is a community broadband initiative established to provide broadband in the South Tyrone/North Monaghan area.

5. Armagh Monaghan Digital Corridor (AMDC) — €962,000

The AMDC project links Armagh and Monaghan with a 1 GB broadband service to help create a digital cross border corridor. Bytel won the contract and the service went live in mid October 2006. There is extra capacity to connect the Monaghan MAN into Armagh.

6.1 Broadband Awareness Campaign — €883,000 (Phase 1)

Interreg allocated €553,000 to the Telecommunication measure to fund a television information campaign to promote awareness of what broadband is. The adverts went live on July 10th 2006 and were directed at the SME and residential users. The original allocation of €533,000 was supplemented by an additional €350,000 Interreg funding to extend the broadband awareness campaign until the end of 2006. This campaign was run by the Department of Communications Marine and Natural Resources with a company called Index, which won the tender for this.

6.2 Make IT Secure Campaign — (Phase 2 of Broadband Awareness Campaign)

€800,000 of ERDF and Public match funding, with an additional €200,000 of private sector match funding. Phase 2 of the broadband awareness campaign began on 11 February 2008, and features a shift in emphasis from the promotion of broadband to the promotion of safe use of broadband and internet technologies. The Department of Finance & Personnel Northern Ireland (DFP NI) supported my Department to run the "Make IT Secure" project as a cross border campaign and thus it became eligible for Interreg funding. As with the Broadband Awareness Campaign, my Department is managing this project. The campaign, which is currently running with television advertisements etc, focuses on the same areas as previous "Make IT Secure" type campaigns, and will also cover social networking. Aside from DFP NI, new private sector partners are involved to augment the existing industry coalition which is providing match funding for this project.

International Connectivity project under the Interreg IV Programme, 2007-2013

Under the Interreg IV Cross Border Programme 2007-2013, a proposal for an International Connectivity project was approved for €30m Interreg funding by the project Steering Committee on 25th January 2008. This would provide a direct international telecoms link between the North West of Ireland and North America by bringing an existing transatlantic submarine telecoms cable onshore in Northern Ireland to an exchange near Derry, which would be linked to the Letterkenny area. EU State Aids approval is required for this project before it can be implemented as proposed in 2009.