Speech by An Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern T.D. at the launch of the Government’s New Marine Strategy “Steering a New Course, Strategy for a Restructured, Sustainable and Profitable Irish Seafood Industry 2007-2013”

Speech by An Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern T.D. at the launch of the Government’s New Marine Strategy “Steering a New Course, Strategy for a Restructured, Sustainable and Profitable Irish Seafood Industry 2007-2013”

Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to start by welcoming everybody here this morning to the Press Centre in Government Buildings. As you are aware, on Tuesday last, the Government launched its new National Development Plan involving a total investment of over €184 billion in the development of our country over the next seven years.

The development of our Seafood Industry is a fully integrated and key element of the National Development Plan. The NDP puts major emphasis on and reflects the Government’s commitment to the further development of our natural resource based industries. The NDP also takes forward the Governments National Spatial Strategy and focuses on the development of rural and coastal areas which are less likely to attract some of the new knowledge based economic development which are occurring in the larger towns and urban areas.

The development of the Seafood Sector as an indigenous national resource based industry, firmly rooted in our coastal communities, is central to the future development and maintenance of people in the communities from Carlingford to Greencastle. Hence the development strategy for the Sector, which we are launching here today, has been drawn together for the Government on the initiative of Minister Noel Dempsey and Minister John Browne and has been integrated into the National Development Plan.

The NDP envisages a total investment package of nearly €600m  (€597m) to implement the Strategy. The Government has committed itself to invest up to €334 million in delivering the Strategy if the Sector and other stakeholders fully buy into the restructuring and development strategy which Noel Cawley and his colleagues have set out in their Report. The balance of the package is comprised of co-funding from the Sector to match the State investment. This package and the critically related measures set out by the Group in their Strategy have the potential to transform the Sector and put it on a sound and sustainable footing for many years to come.

Before saying more about the development Strategy I want to pay my respects in relation to the recent tragedies in the industry. As we all know the last few weeks have been traumatic for the Irish fishing industry and our thoughts are with the families of the seven fishermen who lost their lives off the South-East coast. It is a timely reminder of the hardship and dangers that have to be faced by fishermen to earn a living.

The sea fishing industry is one which I am familiar with from my travels over the years to the coastal communities right around the coast. I know how vital it is to the areas where it provides a critical source of year round employment at sea and on shore. It is an industry that I am aware has been facing many challenges due to the decline of many of the commercial fish stocks. It is a sector where the industry and the Government both recognise that a new restructuring and development strategy was needed.

The bedrock of the industry is the state of the fish stocks in our waters and the Government is committed to working nationally and at EU level to seek to ensure that the stocks are managed sustainably and re-built. Beyond that we need to restructure the Sector to put it on a sustainable development path where it can maximise its potential into the future.

This is a sector where there is great demand in the marketplace for seafood products and where we need to be positioned at the premium end of that market to get the maximum value back to the fishermen and coastal communities, who are harvesting and processing the resource. The Strategy drawn up for the Government by the Group and which we are supporting will we believe put the industry on course to a new and profitable future.

The launch of the Strategy today will I believe be welcomed by the Seafood Sector and gives us all an opportunity to pull together on an agreed basis, for the better development of this important industry over the next years and beyond.

Before handing over to Noel to tell you more about the Strategy I would like to thank Ministers Noel Dempsey and John Browne for taking this important initiative on the Government’s behalf and to thank the Group for their hard work in developing this comprehensive Strategy in time for its inclusion in the National Development Plan. 

ENDS