Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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56. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide the details of any instruction or discussions he has had with Bord Iascaigh Mhara in relation to its strategic direction; if he was informed by the agency of its plan to seek licences for the development of major fin fish farms; if he agreed to this strategic approach; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39519/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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On 17 July, I launched Bord Iascaigh Mhara’s new strategy for the seafood sector over the next five years, from 2013 to 2017. The name of BIM’s strategy document is Capturing Ireland’s Share of the Global Seafood Opportunity. This strategy highlights opportunities for growth in the seafood sector and sets out a clear path for Ireland to make the most of these opportunities. BIM’s strategy is designed to underpin the targets and objectives set out in the Government’s Food Harvest 2020 national food production plan which calls for the Irish seafood sector to increase its revenue and employment through measures such as expanding production, enhancing competitiveness and improved marketing methods to take advantage of the growing demand for seafood. BIM’s strategy aims to capitalise on the opportunity presented by the global demand for seafood by expanding production, building scale and enhancing competitiveness in the Irish seafood sector.

I am confident that BIM’s strategy for the next five years, and the actions outlined in it, will serve to lead the Irish seafood sector to new levels of output, employment and prosperity.

These will allow the industry to capitalise fully on the market opportunities that are being offered by the encouraging long-term global trends in the sector.

The need to maximise the potential for Ireland's aquaculture sector as part of an overall drive for increased output in the seafood sector has been the subject of much debate in recent years. It is a key goal of Food Harvest 2020 as well as Bord Iascaigh Mhara's five-year strategy. Increasing European aquaculture production is a significant element of the new Common Fisheries Policy, which was successfully brokered during the Irish Presidency.

As part of our consideration of means to develop and expand Ireland's aquaculture sector, I asked Bord Iascaigh Mhara, in conjunction with the Marine Institute, to investigate suitable sites for fish farming production in deep waters offshore. BIM subsequently submitted an aquaculture licence application to my Department in respect of a proposed site near Inis Oírr in Galway Bay.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The application and its accompanying environmental impact statement, EIS, are being considered by my Department in conjunction with its scientific and technical advisers, in accordance with the provisions of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997 and the Foreshore Act 1933, as amended. As the application is under active consideration as part of the statutory process, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this time.

I am on record as saying that the strategic approach in deep sea aquaculture development has potential to deliver much needed jobs in coastal communities. However, it is important to note that, as Minister, I have two distinct roles in respect of such applications. I have a developmental role in seeking to enhance Ireland's production of seafood and I have a quite separate regulatory role that requires me to reach determinations in respect of aquaculture licence applications, based on the wider public interest and all relevant national and EU legislation. I take the division between these two roles seriously in respect of all aquaculture licence applications and I assure the Deputy that the distinction is always strictly observed.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister has stated that he asked BIM to identify suitable aquaculture sites, BIM then made an application and he became the decision maker. Effectively, he had become the judge in his own court.

Has the EU been in contact with the Department about documentation that was forwarded from Inland Fisheries Ireland, IFI, to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and then to the Minister's Department for submission to the EU, but which was withheld?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy should check his accuracy. Documentation from IFI concerning this issue was not withheld. The Deputy referred to the work undertaken in respect of lice and the impact of salmon farming on wild salmon. There was an oral hearing with the Commission that involved the IFI documentation, although there were media reports to the contrary. My Department has written to the newspaper concerned to clarify that point.

I am not a judge in my own court. We have a broad strategy for considering opportunities for expansion in the aquaculture sector. In this light, I have asked BIM to find suitable sites and requested that the Marine Institute help it. I have never pushed one site over another. I have asked independent bodies to consider suitable sites and told BIM that, if it made an application, it would be viewed as any other applicant and we would apply the rigour of the rules to its application. This is happening.

If anyone is in any doubt about how rigorous we are in respect of the application to which the Deputy is referring, recommendations have still not been put on my desk. This is due to the amount of work involved in testing the application robustly before any report or recommendation comes my way as the person who must make a decision. Even if an applicant or objector does not agree with my decision at the end of the process - let us wait to see what that decision is - an independent appeals process can be followed. There is no problem with independence as regards this application.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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We are running short on time. I will allow brief questions from Deputies Ó Cuív and Wallace.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Minister not agree that, no matter how one dresses it up, his proposing a policy, asking for applications and then judging them does not create confidence in the process? We in politics must consider all of the processes that we operate if we are to ensure public confidence in same. Does the Minister not agree it would be much more satisfactory if decision making on individual licence applications was independent of the policy maker, namely, the Minister?

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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The Minister is familiar with an issue that I have raised with him previously concerning a request from Special Bannow Bay Shellfish Limited, which applied in 2010 for a licence in respect of new sites for oysters at Bannow Bay and Woodstown. It is still waiting on an appropriate assessment, as per the regulation. This is difficult to credit three years later. All of the oysters are exported and there is a serious problem with youth unemployment in the area, which this initiative would alleviate in some small way. The company has been informed that places in Donegal and Dungarvan have jumped the queue for assessment. It seems to believe that it is not big enough or good enough. Some people might argue that the Minister has been better for the big farmer than the small farmer. They wonder whether he is also better for the big fishers than he is for the smaller fishers.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I must call on the Minister to conclude.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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This company has not been treated well. It asked the Minister for a meeting last December. He is a busy man, but it would be great if he could meet the company.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is raising a different issue.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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A totally different issue. Following a request, I spoke to the individual concerned on the farm in question. That was unusual, but I wanted to understand his concerns. Just like small and large farms, we are trying to allow small and large companies to grow.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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The Minister was supposed to get back to him but did not.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Let me answer the question that the Deputy asked. A process is required. Unfortunately, previous governments did not put in place a proper and robust aquaculture licensing system. The Commission took Ireland to court on this matter and won. We are required to put in place a gold-plated system that we should have implemented many years ago but did not. A part of the process involves an assessment all of Natura and special area of conservation, SAC, sites, amounting to every harbour on our coastline with one or two exceptions. We have fast-tracked the process and I have made decisions on more than 100 aquaculture licensing applications. However, I can only do this as the bays get assessed. The bay in question has not been assessed yet, but we will get to it as quickly as possible.

Regarding Deputy Ó Cuív's commentary on the independence of my Department in terms of aquaculture licence applications, we have put in place a template that ensures that people applying for fish farm or aquaculture licences know by what they must abide. We simply determine whether they meet the requirements. To make the case that, given my advocacy of growth in the aquaculture sector, I am not balanced when making licensing decisions is nonsense. We have just discussed-----

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I never said that.

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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It is the first time that there has been transparency in that Department.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputies, please.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Let me answer the question.

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Ó Cuív knows what went on in that Department for years.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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If Deputy Ó Cuív's rationale-----

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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There was no transparency at all. Deputy Ó Cuív knows well what went on in that Department.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Please, the Minister has the floor.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I said that it did not look good.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As in many cases, we are cleaning up the poor governance of the past. This is the truth. If we were to work by the Deputy's rationale in respect of, for example, live cattle exports, the development of which I have been trying to assist, we would not be able to license ships in that sector because we would be compromised. One can take the argument to the nth degree.

The regulations and rules are clear. We now have a strict and robust licensing system. I would argue that it is more robust than the systems found anywhere else in Europe. We will apply it to large and small aquaculture licence proposals. The process will take its course and an independent decision will be made on that basis.