FINE GAEL and Labour have criticised Taoiseach Brian Cowen's failure to designate a full Cabinet post for marine affairs.
The continued splitting of key marine responsibilities across several government departments is "ignoring a significant growth area" and "frustrating development", Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney and Labour Party marine spokesman Senator Michael McCarthy have both said.
An "ocean economy contributing €3 billion annually" to gross national product is suffering from a lack of leadership, Senator McCarthy said. "This was the ideal occasion for the new Taoiseach to demonstrate his Government's commitment to the marine sector and to acknowledge the failures of the past," Senator McCarthy said.
He said there was "absolutely no clarity as to who is actually in charge" and that "a joined-up, cohesive and integrated maritime policy" was needed.
"At the moment, responsibility for this falls between Agriculture and Fisheries on the one hand and Communications, Energy and Natural Resources on the other, with the departments of environment, transport, community and rural affairs and tourism also involved to some extent or other," he said.
Mr Coveney said a lack of leadership was hampering development in critical areas, like wave energy and marine tourism. The fishing industry also required a commitment at the highest level to ensure its survival, he said.
Mr Coveney was a member of an Oireachtas committee delegation on climate change and energy security, which inspected a wave energy test site off Spiddal, Co Galway, last week.
Two companies, Wavebob Ltd and Ocean Energy, have been testing prototypes on the test site.
The Government has committed to deliver 75 megawatts of electricity from wave energy by 2012. Ocean Energy says it plans to deliver a significant proportion of that, working with University College Cork's Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre.
Meanwhile, the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) has refuted an allegation of verbal abuse made against its staff in Killybegs, Co Donegal. Cormac Burke, editor of The Irish Skipper, has alleged he was verbally abused by an SFPA officer when he inquired about the inspection of non-Irish vessels.
