Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
Let me welcome you all here to Ennis to the Irish Shellfish Association’s Annual Conference 2006. I would like to thank the ISA for giving me this opportunity to speak to you here this morning.
I have to say that I am having a strong sense of dejà vu here this morning. I had the privilege of having Ministerial responsibility for your sector once before, and I am delighted to have been given the job again.
Since the last time I addressed you as Minister, it has been very gratifying to see the progress that you have made.
It is very exciting to see how much the shellfish sector has grown, both in terms of volume and value.
BIM tell me that, last year, your sector produced 46,000 tonnes of product with a first sale value of more than €45m. Those are very impressive statistics by any standard. Given that all of this production comes from the most peripheral of our coastal communities, I am in no doubt how important your sector is.
I understand that one of the key items on the agenda today is the launch of the report prepared in response to a request by the ISA by Price Waterhouse Coopers on the future direction of the Irish rope mussel industry.
I am very pleased to receive this report and look forward to examining its recommendations. I know that my officials will also be looking at it carefully. I expect it will provide very useful input to the work of the Aquaculture Forum. Research on such an important sector, which can then feed into constructive and informed dialogue, is always to be welcomed.
I know that your organisation sees the aquaculture licensing process as having a very important role in terms of the future growth and development of the aquaculture sector. I agree fully with you on this. We must have a licensing system that ensures that the industry can develop in a sustainable way, and in harmony with other uses of marine areas and resources.
We must look to the licensing process to see to it that development takes place on the right scale at appropriate locations, and that development permitted is consistent with high standards of environmental and ecological protection.
I know that is has been agreed to take a look at the operation of the licensing system, and I hope that significant progress can be made with this over the course of the year.
The future of the Irish shellfish industry can be a bright one if we face up to the challenges together. I am convinced that your industry can continue to grow and to make an even more valuable contribution to Ireland’s economy.
To do this, we all have to be prepared to embrace change and to do what is necessary in the face of global competition.
I encourage all of you to be proactive in embracing change, and in contributing to building a strong representative organisation, which will look after your interests in the future.
I recognise the need and the value of having a strong representative organisation and I look forward to dealing with the ISA for the rest of my term as Minister. The input of your views, in a structured and focused way through your industry representative, plays a key part in the policy making process.
On that note, I urge you to engage with us to make your input into the management regime for the bottom mussel sector.
As ISA representatives were advised at the recent meeting of the Aquaculture Forum, in consultation with our Northern colleagues in DARD and the Loughs Agency, the legislation for this sector is currently being revised to provide a clear and user friendly All Island system.
Linked with this, BIM will shortly be inviting your participation, at local bay level, in a consultation process on the allocation of seed so that you have the chance to be at the centre of the process.
Furthermore, I have initiated the review of the bottom mussel sector in response to the ISA’s request. Terms of reference for this are currently being drafted by BIM in consultation with my Department, DARD and the Loughs Agency.
I see that Mr. Pat Keogh, Chief Executive of BIM, is chairing your morning session. I know that he will be working closely with officials from my Department to map out the future development strategy, not only for farmed shellfish, but for the whole of the Irish seafood sector out to 2013. Clearly, every sector of the Industry will be fully involved in this process.
One of our key goals over the life of the next National Development Plan will be to tap into the potential of our shellfish – a natural, indigenous resource.
The aim must be to produce a high quality, value added product, which increases the return of this sector, not just to the economy as a whole, but crucially, to the coastal communities from which this resource comes.
The ISA will be one of a number of representative organisations invited over the coming months by my Department to give their views on the strategy to be followed in the next funding period.
As I have said, I believe that there is a very bright future for the Irish shellfish industry. I do recognise that it is a challenging business and that there are difficulties to be faced up to and overcome.
Ultimately, it is in the interests of all stakeholders to work together to ensure that the shellfish taken from our waters become a distinctive, high quality product that can hold its own in an increasingly competitive and discerning market, be that market domestic or international.
I can assure you that, as Minister, I will ensure that my Department and the agencies work together with yourselves to find concrete solutions to these issues, and I am sure that if we work together, success will be ours. So without further ado, I would once again like to say how delighted I am to be back with you again, and to declare your 2006 Annual Conference open.
Thank you
ENDS