Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think Deputy Ó Cuív is trying to create smoke where there is none. I understand Deputy McHugh attended the meeting because the headquarters of Marine Harvest, where many people are employed, is in his constituency. I do not remember the details but I suspect Marine Harvest requested a meeting with the Taoiseach and me through Deputy McHugh. I believe such a request was also made directly to the Taoiseach. The international CEO of Marine Harvest was in Ireland at the time and it is not unusual for a Deputy from a constituency affected by such a meeting to attend, especially given that, in this case, he was asked to facilitate the meeting.

I went to Bergen in Norway for the North Atlantic Seafood Forum and, while there, I had a number of meetings with salmon farming interests, including Marine Harvest, and other companies. It is easy to send the Deputy the details of these meetings as minutes were taken at all of them, as far as I can remember. Such meetings are merely examples of me doing my job as a Minister who is trying to promote Ireland as a location for food and aquaculture investment. I made it very clear at all of the meetings, with Marine Harvest and the other entities, that the licensing system in Ireland is tough. We are trying to put a fair system in place that can allow applicants get fair consideration and reassure people that the licensing process is sufficiently robust. I have a responsibility to perform a balancing act in this regard and I take it very seriously.

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