Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá mé iontach buíoch go bhfuil an cheist seo roghnaithe mar is ábhar iontach tábhachtach é, go háirithe do mo Dháilcheantar féin i dTír Chonaill, ach tá a fhios agam ó a bheith ag caint leis an Teachta Ferris go bhfuil an rud céanna amhlaidh i gContae Chiarraí agus go leor ceantar eile. Countless coastal communities are living in a state of constant dread and unease as their coasts face an uncertain future. I speak, of course, about the imposition of large-scale, poorly planned and in some instances, unsightly aquaculture developments. The prospect of trestles and other cultivation equipment on beaches and scenic locations for proposed oyster farms has created much anxiety in areas where it is felt that should such developments get the go head, much harm would be done to the local marine environment and its lure as a natural amenity with potential consequences for tourism, recreation and the wider local economy.

Communities in my county of Donegal have been left in limbo for months on end while controversial decisions about licence applications for oyster farms are still pending while decisions on appeal have still to be reached for others. Let us take the example of Cruit Strand. A period of public and statutory consultation into the licence application ended last October. I had the honour of addressing locals there at that time. We prepared the submissions. The area is not supportive of the type of large-scale aquaculture planned for that area. The local community is still waiting for a determination. The consultation ended in October yet we are now facing into July. This is in spite of the Department having received over 3,200 individual submissions from the local community regarding the development at Cruit Strand and the neighbouring strand. There is a legitimate question here. When is the community going to get a decision from the Department? Not only has the Department not made a decision, it cannot tell the community when a decision is likely. At scenic points such as Rann na Feirste, Rann na Mónagh, Cionn Caslach and Charraig Fhinn, places where natural beauty has acted as an inspiration for countless literary works, artists and musicians and to which people continue to flock each year, there are real concerns at plans to erect major oyster farms on its foreshore.

At Carrickfinn, permission was granted by the Department for the development of some 99 acres of pristine coast land at Braade Strand and Gaoth Dobhair Bay. If the Minister of State has ever flown into Carrickfinn, he will know all about it. It has been labelled the second best airport landing strip in the world. The local community there is still waiting to hear the outcome of appeals lodged earlier this year. My question to the Minister of State is simple and I speak on behalf of the thousands of people who have lodged applications. I speak for those who are waiting day after day to find out if this Department and the process is going to allow for their pristine strand and bay to be ruined and scarred in this way. Why are these communities, and countless more like them, forced to endure months of uncertainty while the Minister of State and his Department have sat on their hands?

All we have to do is look at the recent report from the independent review group, which was set up by the Department itself. It has criticised the length of time that determinations are taking. It has found that the current public and statutory consultation process is hugely flawed, including the method of informing the public of planned developments. None of what I have said should be taken or interpreted as saying that we are opposed to aquaculture or that aquaculture is a bad thing. No-one is against that in principle. However, people are against developments which are disproportionately large in both size and scale, which are scattered along the coast without any thought to the impact it would have on the local community, and what we in Sinn Féin have continually called for is that these developments only be granted where it is deemed to be sustainable and commensurate with the area and locality in which these activities are to be carried out.

What action is the Minister of State going to take to protect these communities, particularly with regard to the licence applications at Ranafast and at Cruit, and appeals against Carrickfinn. When are communities going to be taken out of limbo and told that these large-scale aquaculture developments will not go ahead on the Minister of State's watch?

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