Vol. 500 No. 3
42 Mr. Cosgrave asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the number of times the liaison group of fishing interests has met; the dates of these meetings with fishermen along the east coast, primarily from Howth, to allay their genuine concerns regarding the extraction of 250,000 tonnes of gravel from the codling bank to be used for coastal protection works in Bray; and if these meetings have allayed the concern of fisherman. [3732/99]
Following my meeting with the Howth Fishermen's Association on 2 June last, I set up a liaison committee to bring together representatives of the Howth Fishermen's Association, and other representative organisations, the Marine Institute, Bray Urban District Council and my Department.
The purpose of the liaison committee is to address concerns of fishermen and to minimise unavoidable disturbance arising from the proposed extraction of sand and gravel from the Codling Bank for use in beach protection works at Bray, County Wicklow, as far as would be reasonable.
The first meeting of the liaison committee is scheduled to take place in my Department on the afternoon of tomorrow, Friday 12 February 1999.
I understand that it is not proposed to extract material from the Codling Bank for some months yet.
