Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will confirm if a letter was sent by Bord Iascaigh Mhara to him complaining about members of Inland Fisheries Ireland attending a public meeting in Galway on 14 November last; if so, if he will provide a copy of same to this Deputy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53721/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department has received email communications from an Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) outlining what had happened at a public information meeting in Galway concerning BIM’s application for an aquaculture licence and a foreshore licence. The application in question is under active consideration by my Department in accordance with the provisions of the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act and the 1933 Foreshore Act as amended. The application is therefore part of an ongoing deliberative process and it would not be appropriate to issue the Deputy a copy of the communications pending a determination in respect of the application.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a decision will be reached on an aquaculture and foreshore licence in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53725/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The application referred to is in respect of a site in Ballycotton Bay, which is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EU Birds Directive (Natura 2000 site).

All applications in ‘Natura’ areas are required to be appropriately assessed for the purpose of environmental compliance with the EU Birds and/or Habitats Directives prior to any licensing determinations. My Department, in conjunction with the Marine Institute and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is engaged in a multi-annual work programme to achieve full compliance with the ‘Natura’ Directives. This involves gathering baseline data appropriate to the conservation objectives of ‘Natura’ areas, data analysis and the setting of appropriate conservation objectives by NPWS. This will enable all new, renewal and review applications to be appropriately assessed for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the relevant Directives. This work is on-going and represents a significant financial, administrative and scientific investment by the State in resolving this issue. The Appropriate Assessment of aquaculture applications is being dealt with on a bay-by-bay basis. My Department continues to make every effort to expedite the determination of this aquaculture licence application having regard to the need to comply with all national and EU legislation.