Vol. 530 No. 2
18 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the status of the July 1998 Dublin Port Company application under section 10 of the Foreshore Act, 1933, for permission to reclaim 21 hectares in Dublin Bay; the procedures and timescale involved should Dublin Port Company wish to proceed with its reclamation proposals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3277/01]
I refer the Deputy to the replies given by me to the numerous questions tabled by him and other Deputies since March last year. In particular, I refer him to my reply to Question No. 84 of 6 December last. There has been no change in the position since then. It remains a fact that the decision on whether to submit a new EIS which will meet with statutory requirements rests with Dublin Port Company. The timing of the submission of the EIS rests with the port company.
In the event that the company submits a new EIS and, subject to it being found to meet statutory minimum requirements, it will go through the statutory one month public consultation period. There is no timescale set out in legislation for the making of a decision on an application, but I would be surprised if the process took less than six months.
If I decided to grant permission, it would be conditional on planning permission being obtained before any reclamation commenced, as already advised in my reply to Questions Nos. 10, 13, 42 and 50 on 10 February 2000.
