Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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294. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the main findings of the most recent annual Howth Harbour users' forum undertaken by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7969/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Howth Fishery Harbour Centre is one of the six designated Fishery Harbour Centres, which are owned, managed and maintained by my Department.  All six Fishery Centres are first and foremost working fishery harbours.  However each centre has unique features which facilitate a broad range of other diverse activities which are important from both an economic and social perspective.  The development and upkeep of Howth as a state of the art Fishery Harbour Centre supporting a broad range of marine related and other activities is and will remain an ongoing process. Any suggestions from Fishery Harbour Users for the development and improvement of the facilities at Howth will, as has been the case, be given due consideration.

Importantly from the perspective of working with the stakeholders a Harbour Users Forum has been established at each of the Centres, and the most recent Howth forum meeting took place in January this year. This provided an excellent platform for sharing ideas and obtaining stakeholder feedback, issues discussed included operational matters, property availability, capital developments and improving the profile of Howth. These discussions will better inform decisions on the future developments in the harbour. In addition, my officials are of course available to meet harbour users collectively or individually as the need arises.