Thomas P. Broughan
Question:13 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the plans, if any, he has to introduce more licences for salmon growers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12430/99]
Other Questions. - Salmon Licences.
My overall objective is to encourage and support sustainable development of the aquaculture industry which is playing a valuable role in the provision of jobs and economic activity in coastal areas. There are now more than 3,000 people employed in the sector and aquaculture production is worth more than £60 million per year.
Salmon farming alone accounts for some 900 jobs, with annual production of 15,500 tonnes valued at £40 million, and is an increasingly important supplier of raw material to the processing sector. So far this year 15 licences have been granted for salmon farming projects. Positive decisions to license have been made for a further eight projects. Six of these decisions have been appealed to the independent statutory Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board and the remaining two are awaiting the expiry of the statutory one month period allowed to make an appeal to the board.
Many of the currently licensed salmon farms have plans for major expansion requiring new aquaculture licences. All of those expansion proposals must be carefully considered under the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1997, and in particular must undergo the full consultation process, including the publication of an environmental impact statement. My Department is committed to processing these applications to decision as quickly as possible.
I do not disagree with some of the points made by the Minister. The Minister and I dealt with the Act in 1997 while he was Whip of the Committee and I was Chairman and both of us are, therefore, fairly familiar with it. At that time the Minister correctly referred to the delays in the Department due to lack of resources and staff in the processing of these applications. I agreed with the Minister at that time. Now that the Minister is in the driving seat, what proposals has he or what steps has he taken to deal with that problem? Does he agree that the general consensus in the House is that the lack of resources creates problems and results in delays in applications for licences?
I fully understand the concerns of many people in terms of the difficulties we have had regarding licensing. I do not agree that this has been solely due to the lack of staff. As the Deputy is aware, this was a long and protracted exercise which necessitated the introduction of an amendment to the legislation before Christmas. I again thank Fine Gael and the Labour Party for assisting and facilitating me in putting through that amendment which allowed licensing to commence. Licensing only commenced at the beginning of 1999 when there were 600 applications. I am pleased to say we have dealt with approximately 135 of those applications and we continue to deal with the others. We are very careful to ensure that all stipulations in the Act are followed in the provision and consideration of licences. I am sure the Deputy agrees that this is the way to move forward. My intention is to have the backlog dealt with by the end of 1999.