Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and the opportunity to debate this important matter. The aquaculture legislation, as amended, goes back to the 1997 Act, and I would like to discern where we are in the process of examining the legislation and putting more definitive timelines in place to help applicants and communities affected by proposals.

This is a significant issue. Aquaculture licences are controversial in some locations because a body of water is taken for industrial use. It can have a major impact on a community and because of this, a public consultation period and many reports, particularly environmental reports, are required for the licences.I will refer to a particular application to give a sense of where we are. In 2019, an application was made for an aquaculture licence in the heart of Kinsale Harbour, just off Charles Fort. It is a significant part of Kinsale Harbour. The application has been going through the process for the past three and a half years. It was necessary to re-advertise in May 2021 due to a mistake in the wording of the first advertisement in 2019. Three and a half years later, the vacuum of information is a significant issue for the community.

We are trying to make sure that communities can be informed of what is happening in the process, the stage it is at and when a decision will be made. That is necessary in order that objectors and applicants have a more definitive timeline so that they can move on with their lives and the proposals for the harbour. We are very much aware that these are significant developments but the 1997 Act - I spent the weekend reading it and it is exceptionally boring legislation - never put a definitive timeline on when a decision on these applications would be made. I am aware of cases where it was seven, eight or nine years after the application was first made that a decision was issued. There is a need to review the Act in order to put more definitive timelines in place and to strengthen the line of communications between the community and the Department so that everyone can be part of the process and we can have a strong aquaculture network. We need to make sure that the impacted communities can access the information in respect of how the process works.