Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 6 February 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Aquaculture Licensing Process: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

3:30 pm

Dr. Cecil Beamish:

Obviously. We are not saying it does not start. We are considering it. It could be a case of eaten bread is soon forgotten. We are trying to step up threefold the number of licence determinations in each month of the next 24 months. That requires an input not just from us but from external bodies. It is not just the licensing division that will have to deal with it, there are other external bodies that will have an input into the licensing process who equally have to step up the pace, in terms of delivering scientific and technical views. All of that has to be delivered. That is the first and primary challenge. We will be in a different space after that. The industry will be in a different space.