Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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103. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department ordered the censorship of seal depredation research by Bord Iascaigh Mhara in 1997/1998; if correspondence from a person (details supplied) on this matter, since last year, has been discussed between any of his officials and Bord Iascaigh Mhara; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8427/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Given the passage of time since this 1997 report was prepared by Bord Iascaigh Mhara, and that BIM was then under the aegis of the Department of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, I have no departmental records available to me concerning any discussions that may have taken place about it at that time. On 31 January 2014, my office received a letter of complaint about BIM concerning this 1997 report. In order to understand the nature of the complaint, my officials discussed the correspondence with BIM.

I subsequently advised the complainant on 12 May 2014 that I considered it appropriate that his concerns be processed, in the first instance, with BIM through its Customer Charter. This is the appropriate first course of action in investigating this complaint. It is of course open to the complainant to seek to have the matter reviewed by officials who had no involvement in the matters which are the subject of the complaint. Following this, if the complainant so wishes, he would have the option to refer the matter to the Office of the Ombudsman.