Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply on behalf of the Minister and I take on board all that he has said. Could he ask the Minister to issue a statement that at the meeting between Alf-Helge Aarskog, which runs Marine Harvest, the Taoiseach and the Minister, no reference was made to this fish farm project? That would contravene everything stated in the Minister of State's reply. It would have been inappropriate, as this is one of the companies that could become the prime mover and shaker in the project. This would be important if this process is to be seen as open, transparent, fair, etc., and the preconception that there would not be any predisposition on the Minister's part needs to be upheld. The Minister needs to make a clear statement that he and the Taoiseach did not discuss the BIM Inis Oírr project with the man who runs Marine Harvest during their meeting.