asked the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry if he will intervene with An Bord Iascaigh Mhara to ensure that no confiscation will take place in the cases of trawler owners who are trying earnestly to repay their loans; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

It is not the policy of Bord Iascaigh Mhara to repossess fishing vessels except in cases where the board are satisfied that for one reason or another the skipper is unable and unlikely to meet his loan commitments. I do not propose to intervene in the matter which falls within the day-to-day operations of the board.

Could the Minister give us an indication of what is the current arrears situation in relation to boat repayments and whether An Bord Iascaigh Mhara have any proposals at present to repossess any boats?

Twelve vessels were voluntarily surrendered in 1983 and eight vessels in 1984. This action was taken by the board having established that not only were these people not in a position to meet their commitments but, in many cases, did not even have insurance cover on such commitments. In reply to the Deputy's question, I should say proposals are at present being examined in relation to this problem and I hope to be in a position to make an announcement on this fairly shortly.

Last week the Minister was not in a position to give us any information in relation to the proposals at present before either his Department or the Department of Finance. Perhaps the Minister could avail of this opportunity to give us some details of the nature of the proposals, whatever they are, in order to deal with this crisis in relation to loan repayments.

I cannot give details of the proposals because they have been put by the board to me. I have had discussions with the board and I am now having discussions with the Department of Finance. Until these matters have been finalised it would be inappropriate for me to give details of what the proposals are.

Can the Minister give the exact amount of money owed? Is it in the region of £6 million or £8 million and is it true that the proposals are delayed in the Department of Finance because the Department are not prepared to sanction them?

The Deputy is indulging in wild speculation in relation to the figures he mentioned and the location of the proposals.

Will the Minister give an assurance that boats which are repossessed will be sold to citizens of the State?

That is a matter for the board of BIM. I do not normally intervene in their day-to-day activities.

Would the Minister accept that the number of boats repossessed is the highest ever? Would he not accept that this is a clear indication of the serious position of the fishing industry? Would he ensure that the practice is not allowed to continue whereby boats are left lying and fall into disrepair? They should be in good repair when they return to fishing.

I am not in a position to say whether this is the highest level of repossessions because we are not comparing like with like. The level of repossession in previous years may possibly have been lower but the number of boats in the fleet was lower. It is difficult to make direct comparisons. I agree that the laying up of boats over a long period is a bad practice since it leads to the deterioration of the boats.

Would the Minister ascertain the number of the boats lying up and try to ensure that they are not left in a condition which would make it impossible for them to return to fishing? New boats have been left lying up for two years.

I promise the Deputy that I will take up this matter with the board of BIM.

The Minister did not give precise details of the size of boats and the areas in which they were repossessed. Could he give some indication of the areas in which these boats were operating and the exact amount owed?

This matter should not be raised. The question deals with the future.

I have not that information for the obvious reason that this is a matter completely outside the parameters of the question.