Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 July 2015
141. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to commence section 13 of the Fisheries Acts that allows him to put time limits on the time given to make decisions under the aquaculture licensing system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29454/15]
View answerSection 13 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1997 sets down timeframes within which the Minister shall endeavour to determine an application for an aquaculture licence. However, in the absence of a commencement order, there is no statutory timeframe in force for the determination of applications for aquaculture licences under the Act. The commencement of Section 13 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997 is a matter which is kept under ongoing review by my Department in light of recent advances and development in environmental legislation.
As the Deputy is aware, Food Wise 2025 has identified, as one of its action points, a commitment by my Department to commission an independent review of the existing aquaculture licensing system involving all key stakeholders, to identify the current shortcomings and bottlenecks (legislative, resource and logistical), to report by early 2016 and implement necessary changes to the aquaculture licensing system as a matter of priority. As might be expected the issue of timeframes for the consideration of aquaculture licence applications will be a feature of this review.
