Madam, - I wholeheartedly agree with Capt Michael Doyle (May 12th) regarding the Government's failure to allocate a full Cabinet post for the marine industry. This was the ideal occasion for the new Taoiseach to demonstrate his commitment to the industry and to coastal communities.
The ocean economy currently contributes some €3 billion a year to Ireland's GNP from fishing, aquaculture, food processing, shipping, tourism, IT, financial and other services. At the moment, responsibility for all of this falls to the Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on one hand and Communications, Energy, and Natural Resources on the other, with the Departments of Environment, Transport, Rural Affairs and Tourism also involved to some extent.
We need a joined-up, cohesive and integrated maritime policy. The Taoiseach should have taken the first step toward this by appointing to the Cabinet a full minister with responsibility for all the facets of the marine industry. It is ludicrous to think that we can develop a vibrant maritime sector with such a disjointed and fragmented system of administration. - Yours, etc,
Senator MICHAEL McCARTHY, Labour Party Spokesperson on the Marine, Seanad Éireann, Dublin2.