Dr. Cecil Beamish:

The Senator made a lot of statements about what happened at Linsfort beach. The Department has adhered to everything that was required by the legislation under which we must work. All of the statutory requirements were adhered to in that case. I will not go into all of the details on an individual basis because we have hundreds of cases. The legislation requires that we advertise in a newspaper that is circulated in the area. The requirement is as vague and as general as that. We do not necessarily know which newspaper does best in a particular sub-part of a county. In this case we advertised in the Donegal Democrat. There is also a statutory consultation process that went through in full. As the local authority is part of that statutory process, as are all of the other statutory consultees, one cannot say that the local authority was blind about this process. The Department fully adhered to all of the legislative requirements.

There is a possibility to appeal the decisions made and lodge an appeal with the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board, which is completely independent of the Department. If people, for some reason or other, did not participate in the licensing process, which mostly we have been told has too much consultation and takes too long, they then have the possibility, once a decision is made, to go to the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board. Nothing has been lost. People can have a second bite at the cherry, if they so wish.