Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 126: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he and the national parks and wildlife service support the policy to develop aquaculture as outlined in the seafood industry strategy known as the Cawley report; if every effort should be made to maintain and develop a sustainable industry which produces up to €100 million in vital exports and supports more than 2,000 jobs in peripheral coastal areas producing top quality food; if he, his Department and agencies are committed to ensuring the fastest and most cost-effective measures are taken at national and EU level to address the ECJ ruling of December 2007 on Ireland's failure to implement the Natura 2000 Directive in marine areas; if he will work in full co-operation with his Ministerial colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to quickly remove the long-standing logjams in aquaculture licensing, to restore vital grant aid lost to the sector and to re-open long-established mussel seed areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19467/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Cawley Report noted that the aquaculture industry is critical for the sustainable economic and social development of coastal communities and that the industry depends on sustainable fish stocks and a healthy marine environment.

In December 2007, the European Court of Justice found that Ireland's consent processes for aquaculture did not meet certain provisions of the Habitats and Birds Directives and were therefore not providing adequate environmental protection for the Natura 2000 sites in which a significant proportion of aquaculture and inshore fishery activities take place. My Department is working closely with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the European Commission to bring Ireland's aquaculture and wild fishery consent systems into compliance with the requirements of EU law. This will ensure a much higher standard of environmental protection for these important sites and help to safeguard the long-term prospects and sustainability of these industries in line with the objectives of the Cawley Report.