Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to ask the Minister a couple of questions. I do not want to get into the debate on quotas because, unfortunately, they are what they are and they have done tremendous damage to the overall viability of a large Irish fishing fleet now or into the future.

In the Minister's report, I would think that he is talking about the idea of sustainability and growth. To the fishermen I speak to, there is an overly negative aspect to the future of their industry for a lot of them. There are five large trawlers fishing out of Dunmore East Harbour. That is it now, and they are finding it very tough going. The eel fishers and the pot fishers are doing it more so now because it is something they have done all of their lives, rather than it being viable anymore because for most of them it is not, and it is nearly dying out.

There are a couple of areas I would like to touch on. One is restoring eel fishing in the Waterford Estuary. I know it had opened in Scotland. I am not sure what the Department's situation is. Maybe the Minister will come back to me in writing on that and see whether there is licensing available for that. It used to happen and I do not what the situation is but the Minister might update me please.

There is a second point I want to make about Dunmore East Harbour. As the Minister knows, it is both a fishing harbour and a recreational harbour. We have issues down there with space and we are trying to manage all of that. I spoke to the Minister before, and I welcome the harbour development works that were undertaken recently and some of the changes with regard to the fish landing licensing and all of that. However, we have a number of derelict buildings in the harbour that belong to the Department. Nothing has been done with them for years and they are an eyesore. I have asked repeatedly and all I have been told is, "It is the Department of fisheries". We have works that need to be done in recreational areas where fishers are and we could probably move some activity from one area to another if we were to bring these buildings into use. Even if we do not do it for that, I would highlight that there is no fish processing going on in Dunmore East Harbour anymore. The trawlers come in and they just land their fish off in ice, and off it goes in juggernauts. There is an opportunity there, and if the Minister wants to talk about sustainable development, this is something. We need a business plan and I would be happy to engage with the Minister and the fishermen down there to try to figure it out. We used to have very good processing facilities down there. Unfortunately, some were burned down and never replaced. However, I ask the Minister to have a look at those vacant buildings that are in the harbour area and see what can be done with them.

Helvick Harbour has been brought up a number of times in An Roinn. The fishermen's boats there are sitting on their keels six to eight hours every day because of the silting of that harbour, and we have been asking for dredging of that harbour for more than five years. The local authority has no money to process foreshore licences, and again it is something that the Department needs to decide. Are we going to make these harbours workable or not? We need to tell the fishermen if we are not going to do that because at the moment, they are just spending longer being unable launch their boats or come into the harbour.

Finally, there is a draft designated maritime area plan under way at the moment off the south coast. There have been a number of public meetings going on trying to get feedback on that, and I understand it is the Government's intention to produce in the coming months a more formalised area where a number of wind project licences are going to be considered. What I would say to the Minister about that - and when we are above in this House we do not look at this - is that is an area of tremendous importance to the coastline of Waterford and east Cork, and Wexford to be fair. I want to make particular reference to the UNESCO Copper Coast site, which has been highlighted throughout the world as one of the most scenic drives around Ireland, and more importantly, all of the communities that live along there. I have tried to find out, with little success, about how we are proposing that the first number of licences there will be done by fixed pylons. That is not by floating wind but by fixed wind. The question is: what water depths are they going to be able to drill into? Nobody has been able to show this to me yet but we are not going to get any kind of opportunity to put these pylons far enough out to sea so that they will not encroach upon the amenity of that area. I ask the Minister to come back to me with something on that. What does he consider the regulated depths will be? These are 350 m turbines, the largest in Europe. We will be looking at 60 Eiffel Towers off the coast of Waterford and I certainly will not support that.

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