Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 December 2012
486. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a decision will be reached on an aquaculture and foreshore licence in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53725/12]
View answerThe application referred to is in respect of a site in Ballycotton Bay, which is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EU Birds Directive (Natura 2000 site).
All applications in ‘Natura’ areas are required to be appropriately assessed for the purpose of environmental compliance with the EU Birds and/or Habitats Directives prior to any licensing determinations. My Department, in conjunction with the Marine Institute and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is engaged in a multi-annual work programme to achieve full compliance with the ‘Natura’ Directives. This involves gathering baseline data appropriate to the conservation objectives of ‘Natura’ areas, data analysis and the setting of appropriate conservation objectives by NPWS. This will enable all new, renewal and review applications to be appropriately assessed for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the relevant Directives. This work is on-going and 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. My Department continues to make every effort to expedite the determination of this aquaculture licence application having regard to the need to comply with all national and EU legislation.
