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

I am glad to have the opportunity to respond to this matter. The premise behind the Senator’s question is incorrect. The meeting to which she refers was not about the Galway Bay farm.

On 30 January, I met with representatives of the company referred to by the Senator. The meeting was chaired by An Taoiseach. Officials from the Department of the Taoiseach and my Department were also in attendance. The meeting was held at the request of the company to discuss licensing and industry development issues associated with the company's operations in Ireland. It is a very big employer here and happens to be the largest salmon farming company in the world. It is a huge multinational so there was nothing inappropriate about meeting it, just as I meet other multinationals seeking to invest in Ireland.

As is appropriate, it was explained from the outset that specific applications which the company submitted to my Department for consideration could not be discussed in detail in view of the statutory basis of the assessment process.

Bord lascaigh Mhara, BIM, and not Marine Harvest Ireland is the applicant in the case to which the Senator refers.

It is entirely appropriate for me as Minister to meet Marine Harvest Ireland on matters relevant to the company's operations in Ireland having regard to the important role it plays as a food producer from the marine resource. There is always a strict separation between my ministerial role as decision maker in respect of aquaculture licence applications and my ministerial duty to promote the sustainable development of the industry. This separation of duties is always strictly observed, including at meetings with industry representatives, as it is at meetings with NGOs, which have a contrary view at times.

The report of the meeting was put in the public domain on foot of a freedom of information request by a member of the public. The report is clear in setting out the limited parameters of the discussion and I draw the Senator's attention in particular to the specific statement at the outset of the meeting that individual licensing applications could not be discussed in detail because of the statutory basis of the licensing system.

The company in question plays an important role in the provision of employment from the aquaculture industry in disadvantaged coastal regions. It would be quite incredible if I refused to meet its representatives to discuss general issues associated with their activities in Ireland. Indeed, it would be negligent of me to remain aloof from key employers on the basis of a supposed conflict of interest which does not exist and in respect of which the strictest of protocols are observed by me as Minister and by my officials. If anybody reads the report of the meeting, it will be clear this separation of functions has been applied.

With regard to the Galway Bay deep sea project, an application by BIM for an aquaculture licence for the cultivation of finfish near Inis Oirr in Galway Bay was received by my Department in 2012. The application and its accompanying environmental impact assessment are being considered under the provisions of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997 and the Foreshore Act 1933.

A determination in respect of the application will be made as soon as possible following completion of the necessary assessment process. This assessment process will take full account of all national and EU legislative requirements and will reflect the full engineering, scientific, environmental, legal and public policy aspects of the application. The fullest consideration is being given to all submissions received as part of the statutory and public consultation stages of the process. As the application is under active consideration as part of the statutory process, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time, apart from saying what I have said many times publicly. I will not grant a licence to any aquaculture or finfish farm application unless and until I am fully satisfied on the basis of scientific evidence from the Marine Institute that it is appropriate to do so. It is important to put on the record that I have not granted a licence in my three years as Minister for salmon farming to Marine Harvest Ireland or anybody else. I act on the basis of the advice I get from marine biologists and marine scientists and I take issue with the insinuation of what the Senator said because it suggests that both the Taoiseach and I are involved in an inappropriate relationship with the company, which simply is not the case. The company employs many people in Ireland. Its chief executive officer was in Ireland and he wanted to get an understanding of the systems here and the ambition within government for the sector. That is what we discussed.

There is no mystery. A meeting was held with a major employer, at its request, to discuss a broad range of issues. It was a perfectly appropriate meeting at which clear parameters were set down on the State's side in respect of "live" applications. That was done by the Taoiseach at the beginning of the meeting. The meeting was the subject of a standard report, which in due course was put in the public domain on foot of a freedom of information request. The minutes of the meeting have no import beyond what is clearly stated in the relevant minutes. The only mention I made at that meeting of any application related to Shot Head was when I was asked a question on when there was likely to be a decision on it, which has been under consideration for at least two and a half years. I said, because of information I had received from my Department, that we were hoping to make a decision by Easter, which was a few months after that meeting. I had absolutely no indication as to what that decision would be or the parameters of the decision or the considerations I needed to make on the back of that application. I did not have recommendations on my desk and, therefore, I could not do that. All I did was update them on a likely timeframe and, as it happens, there has been no decision on Shot Head just in case anybody thinks the meeting resulted in an early decision on that application.