Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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259. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to refuse an application for a 15,000 tonne caged salmon farm, off the Aran Islands, now that the Labour Party has passed a motion, at its conference, last weekend, calling on the Government to ensure that no caged salmon farms be allowed off the west coast, its surrounds, or in-lands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10043/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The application by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) for an aquaculture licence for the cultivation of finfish in Galway Bay was received by my Department in 2012. The application is under active consideration by my Department in accordance with the provisions of the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act and the 1933 Foreshore Act.

A determination in respect of the application will be made following completion of the necessary assessment process. This assessment process will take full account of all national and EU legislative requirements and will reflect the full engineering, scientific, environmental, legal and public policy aspects of the application.

As the application is under active consideration as part of the statutory process it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this time.