HC Deb 22 June 1967 vol 748 cc1946-7
Q5. Mr. Dalyell

asked the Prime Minister if he will appoint a Minister of State in the Ministry of Technology solely concerned with the development of the technology of the sea-bed.

The Prime Minister

While fully recognising the importance of work in this sphere, I do not think that a full-time Ministerial appointment could be justified.

Mr. Dalyell

Does the Prime Minister accept the case that a major marine science programme can be sustained on its own hard-headed economic merits and that some technical resources, hitherto bound up in the Atomic Energy Authority and defence engineering, should be released for a development programme of the sea-bed?

The Prime Minister

Yes. The importance that the Government attach to this was shown by the Conference on the Technology of the Sea and the Sea Bed, held at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment a couple of months ago, and sponsored by the Ministry of Technology, at which other Departments were represented. Follow-up action from that conference is now proceeding.

Mr. Hugh Fraser

Would the right hon. Gentleman look at this Question in a wider field? Would he not agree that the time has really come for a much wider investigation of the whole question of sea use, of marine technology, marine science, and of getting someone to look at it from outside the Department?

The Prime Minister

This is absolutely right, and it was one reason why we set up the super-co-ordinating committee in the matter of scientific research. I said at that time that there were some scientists who felt that, compared with the vast amounts we were spending on space, a million or two spent on marine geology might give us much more value, in real terms as well as scientific terms. Certainly this whole matter should be looked at, and is being looked at.

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

Is not this a case in which the Prime Minister might well be doing something, instead of just wringing his hands?

The Prime Minister

Yes, and in this, as in all other matters, we are. I do not remember the right hon. Gentleman paying any attention to sea-bed technology—I am not sure if he even knew what it was.