Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 April 2014
214. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has in place an adequate inspection programme to ensure that cheap imports of substandard equipment for Irish salmon farms and other aquaculture operations are not being substituted with or without the licensee’s knowledge for certified Irish products leading to component failures on these farms and the consequent escapes of large numbers of fish. [18428/14]
View answerMy Department’s Engineering Division inspects licensed aquaculture sites on a regular basis. These inspections include the conditions of cages on site.
While I am satisfied that the current inspection regime is satisfactory, my Department is alert to ongoing technological changes which enhance the security of all structures on licensed sites and in this regard my Department is currently preparing a draft protocol for the structural design of marine finfish farms.
