Vol. 516 No. 4
52 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the position regarding all submissions made by the general public regarding the reclamation of 21 hectares by Dublin Port Company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8393/00]
In excess of 400 submissions were made to my Department arising from the public consultation process attached to the publication of the environmental impact statement by Dublin Port Company in respect of the proposed reclamation of 21 hectares of foreshore owned by the company in Dublin Port. In accordance with normal practice, these were acknowledged individually and copied to the port company for its observations. While this process was under way my Department had engaged consultants to examine the adequacy of the EIS. The EIS was found not to comply with statutory requirements and, if the company wishes to proceed, it will be necessary for it to carry out a new EIS and recommence the process.
A number of months after the public consultation period had ended several thousand pro-forma objections were delivered to my office with a request that they be acknowledged individually. The objections have been noted in my Department. Individual acknowledgement, however, would seriously disrupt the normal day to day workings of the Department and could not be justified. Events have overtaken matters and the issue of whether to proceed with the application, which will have to be accompanied by a new EIS, now lies with the company.
