John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 241: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of aquaculture licences issued in the past five years by him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40095/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The European Court of Justice issued a judgment against Ireland in 2007 and this has largely determined what can be done since that time in relation to aquaculture licensing in most of the Bays around Ireland. In that context, twenty three aquaculture licences were issued in the past five years.

The low number of licences issued largely arises from the need for full compliance with the terms of that judgment with particular reference to the EU Birds and Habitats Directives. The majority of areas for which these licences are sought are designated Special Areas of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive and/or Special Protection Areas under the EU Birds Directive (Natura 2000 sites).

My Department, in conjunction with the Marine Institute and the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, is engaged in a comprehensive programme to gather the necessary baseline data appropriate to the conservation objectives of aquaculture sites located within Natura 2000 areas. The comprehensive data collection programme together with the setting of appropriate conservation objectives will enable all new and renewal applications to be appropriately assessed for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the EU Birds and Habitats Directives. Once the relevant data has been collected, conservation objectives for the site are set by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). The establishment of these conservation objectives by NPWS allows individual licence applications to be assessed against the conservation objectives.

My Department is working very closely with the National Parks and Wildlife Service to complete the overall assessment process and significant progress is being made.