Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I thank everybody for his or her support. I acknowledge that this is not the ideal way to steer legislation through the House which normally would take more time. There would be a time period between the different Stages to allow Members to bring forward amendments and make suggestions for change, although this is amending legislation that is short and sharp and it is unlikely amendments would have been tabled. That is why we were anxious to get it through the House today in order that we would have it finished before the summer and I could get on and do my job with reference to some of the things Members have asked me to do.

Everyone raised the issue of aquaculture development. There are a number of points that need to be understood. The licensing and foreshore processes are different. The reason we have not seen the granting of an aquaculture licence in two years is Ireland was taken to court by the European Commission for not having in place appropriate licensing mechanisms. Unless we put in place a system that will satisfy the Commission, it will start to impose fines and, potentially, shut down the aquaculture industry. We are in a vulnerable position and the Commission is literally holding a stick over our head in asking us to put in place a gold-plated system for accepting applications for aquaculture licences.

Ireland has a series of what are called Natura areas, special areas of conservation. Practically every harbour and port in the country, with a few exceptions - Bantry Bay being an obvious one - is now an SAC. Within SACs there is a process that has to be gone through in either renewing a licence or applying for a new one. To start with, an environmental impact assessment must be made in the bay before there is even consideration of the invitation of applications for licences. The National Parks and Wildlife Service is involved with my Department.

For what it is worth, I am as frustrated as anybody else in the House. Deputy Browne experienced this when he was in the Department. It is not due to a lack of urgency among staff in the Department who want to make it happen. We are trying to streamline a system to allow us to provide for environmental assessments of harbours and bays as quickly as possible. We will have a number done and dusted by the end of the year and aquaculture licence applications under consideration, some of which I hope will be granted. There is no one who wants to progress this issue more than me, but there is a process that we must follow. If we do not, unfortunately, the Commission which has already won a court case on the issue will come down on us like a ton of bricks.

The frustration stems from the fact that what we are expected and being asked to do is not replicated in other European countries. That is why last year Ireland produced only 12,000 tonnes of farmed salmon, whereas Scotland, one of our closest neighbours, produced 150,000 tonnes. That is why processors in Ireland have to spend hundreds of thousands of euro on importing farmed salmon each week from Scotland in order to be able to process the amount of salmon demanded by consumers. Norway, as mentioned by Deputy McHugh, is producing 1 million tonnes of farmed salmon per annum. Within five years, it wants this figure to be 2 million tonnes. We are still at a figure of 12,000 tonnes, despite the fact, to which Deputy Pringle referred, that Irish organic farmed salmon is in extraordinary demand. The biggest argument aimed at Irish seafood companies at the European Seafood Expo in Brussels recently was what were they doing there if they did not have volumes of fish to sell.

This is a growth industry waiting to be exploited to create employment and wealth in coastal communities which can take advantage of it. We want to do this in a sustainable way in order to allow people with concerns about these developments to have their say. We will develop Natura areas and SACs in a way that is responsible in terms of proper environmental management but which will allow businesses to grow. We will also try to move to a new playing pitch to try to encourage some of the new applicants for licences for large developments, in particular, fin-fish farming, to do so outside Natura areas and SACs, slightly offshore in the lee of islands and elsewhere.

The Ceann Comhairle will remember the debate we had about offshore zoning and spatial planning at the Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security when looking at foreshore legislation. In the case of aquaculture, we are asking the Marine Institute to earmark certain suitable areas which are sheltered but also far enough offshore to be outside SACs to allow us to look at new fish farming developments that could dramatically increase volumes without causing any environmental damage. That is the kind of project we are trying to progress.

There is much enthusiasm for measures aimed at facilitating a dramatic expansion of the aquaculture industry. I intend to continue to try to give leadership to allow this to happen. However, we are constrained in SACs and Natura areas and need to find a solution in working with the Commission. It is not purely a question of human resources, unless one wants to introduce hundreds of people to make environmental assessments of every bay in the country for which my Department does not have the required level of resources.

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