Select Committee on Enterprise and Economic Strategy debate -
Wednesday, 26 Mar 1997

SECTION 62.

Éamon Ó Cuív

I move amendment No. 34:

In page 32, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following subsection:

"(2) Not later than one year after the commencement of this Act the Minister shall designate those areas in which applications for fish farming projects are most likely to succeed.".

Concerns have been expressed that designations will be done away with and that there is no indication of the areas in which applications are most likely to succeed. We have discussed inland waters but there is a chance applications might be successful for estuaries and other waters. Will the Minister indicate what areas are considered favourable for various types of activity? I accept that the aquaculture business is broader than fin fish farming. Will the Minister designate those areas the Department considers suitable for various types of aquaculture?

Mr. Gilmore

The designation process is being ended under this legislation because it proved to be cumbersome and unwieldy. The concept, as Deputy Ó Cuív is aware, was to designate large areas of the foreshore within which it would be lawful to grant a licence. Designations put in place by ministerial order in the 1980s take no account of the dynamic and evolutionary nature of coastal waters eco systems. In parts of some of the areas currently designated for aquaculture, it may not be desirable to issue licences notwithstanding the fact that under section 54 of the Fisheries Act, 1980, it would be lawful to do so.

This Bill is providing for licensing on a discreet individual site basis. I do not propose to accept the amendment which would allow for the designation of areas. Each individual site would be considered on its merits and section 61 requires that the suitability of the waters and its environmental and ecological considerations must be taken into account in each case.

An examination is currently under way by the Department of the Marine, the Department of the Environment and the Office of Public Works towards the establishment of a system of coastal zone management which, in the course of time, will evolve into identifying areas of the coast which are suitable for various types of activity. As regards aquaculture, the intention is to assess the individual site and to move away from the designation of an entire bay because although it is designated, parts of it may be unsuitable for aquaculture. If we designate them, we will create the expectation that aquaculture should be permitted in them.

Éamon Ó Cuív

The Minister has given us a great deal of information from the applicant's point of view and that of people concerned about possible applications. It is desirable to draw up this coastal zone management plan as quickly as possible so that people know what areas are likely to be developed without being formally designated. I accept what the Minister said, but I hope we will not wait too long for the publication of the coastal zone management plan which is badly needed. It will be a major help to everybody interested in coastal development.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Mr. Gilmore

I move amendment No. 34a:

In page 32, subsection (4), line 29, after "section", to insert ",and subsection (3), with the necessary modifications, shall apply as if the amendment or revocation were a directive under subsection (1)".

This amendment makes it clear that in the event of a policy directive being amended or revoked, the Minister will have to comply with the provisions of subsection (3) (a), (b) and (c), that is, to lay the matter before the Oireachtas, publish it in Iris Oifigiúil and copy it to the appeals board. The Minister is required to do these three things when making a policy directive, so it is reasonable that he or she should have to do the same when a directive is being amended or revoked.

Amendment agreed to.

Section 63, as amended, agreed to.

Amendment No. 35 not moved.

Section 64 agreed to.