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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 7 Feb 1995

Vol. 448 No. 6

Written Answers. - Oyster Cultivation.

Hugh Byrne

Question:

231 Mr. H. Byrne asked the Minister for the Marine in respect of Parliamentary Question No. 214 of 15 November 1994, his views on whether it is acceptable that a person's application for a licence to cultivate oysters was with his Department from October 1992 to date; if such matters normally take over two years; the steps, if any, he has taken or plans to take to improve his Department's performance in this respect; the occasions on which and means by which his Department sought to explain to the person the ongoing delays in the transaction of this business; if, as stated in Parliamentary Question No. 214 of 15 November 1994, clearance was granted from a fish health perspective in 1993, the reason no steps have been taken to regularise the situation of oyster farming at Ballyteigue Bay; the date on which his Department requested the wildlife service to reconsider the extent, if any, to which the application in question can be accommodated within the bay; the response, if any, the wildlife service has made to his Department; the further requests, if any, his Department has made to the wildlife service to expedite the matter; when his Department will be in a position to brief the applicant and Deputy Byrne as promised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2718/95]

As the Deputy was advised in the reply to his parliamentary question on 15 November 1994, processing the licensing application in question has been constrained from the start because of the proposed site location. The oyster growing operation is located within a statutory nature reserve established in 1987 which was also designated by the Wildlife Service under the EU Birds Directive as a special protection area in 1990. Aquaculture and other developmental activity is circumscribed within such conservation areas.

The Department requested the Wildlife Service on 9 November, 1994 to urgently reconsider the extent, if any, to which the application could be accommodated within the conservation area. The Wildlife Service formally advised the Department on 9 December last that any aquaculture development would have an adverse impact on the nature reserve from a wildlife conservation viewpoint and that consequently the development could not be facilitated within this particular area.

The application now has to be assessed in light of the expressed position of the Wildlife Service by the Department's aquaculture licensing vetting committee which is due to meet later this month. The committee will be asked as part of its consideration to examine the scope for assisting the applicant to identify an alternative site.

I have been advised that the Department wrote to the applicant on 14 November last to explain the licensing difficulties and offering to fully brief him in person on the situation. I understand that this offer has not been taken up as yet but officials remain available to meet the Deputy and the applicant at any time.

The Department is committed to progressing aquaculture licence applications as quickly as possible in full consultation with all relevant interests. The duration of the consultative and decision making process can vary from case to case, however, depending on the technical and scientific considerations and particular local circumstances involved. Procedures are being strengthened to ensure that applicants and other concerned parties are kept regularly informed of progress.
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