Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 October 2012
209. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of licences that were granted or renewed in Natura 2000 areas since the Natura 2000 area were introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45513/12]
View answerNo new aquaculture licences for sites in 'Natura areas' have been issued since the European Court of Justice issued a negative judgement against Ireland in 2007 for breaches of EU Birds and Habitats Directives.
To ensure compliance with the Birds and Habitats Directives, all applications in 'Natura 2000 areas' are required to be appropriately assessed. This has required the putting in place of a significant work programme which has considerable time and resource implications. An additional factor is that all aquaculture applications now undergo an Environmental Impact pre-screening assessment which requires significant input from the Department’s scientific and technical advisors, or are required to provide a full Environmental Impact Statement.
My Department, in conjunction with the Marine Institute and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, is engaged in a comprehensive programme to gather the necessary baseline data appropriate to the conservation objectives of 'Natura 2000' areas. This data collection programme is substantially complete. Analysis of the data, together with the setting of appropriate conservation objectives by the NPWS, will enable all new, renewal and review applications to be appropriately assessed for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the EU Birds and Habitats Directives. This work represents a significant financial, administrative and scientific investment by the State in resolving this issue. The Appropriate Assessment of aquaculture applications is being dealt with on a bay-by-bay basis.
