Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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216. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the full environmental impact assessment will be carried out on Ballyness Bay in Donegal; the reason a person (details supplied) has been instructed to remove oyster trestles from the bay even though they applied for an oyster aquaculture licence in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28930/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Ballyness Bay is located within Ballyness Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC) (Natura 2000 site). All aquaculture activities in Natura site areas require an Appropriate Assessment to be carried out before any aquaculture licensing determinations can be made.  My Department is working with the Marine Institute, Bord Iascaigh Mhara and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to achieve full compliance with the EU Birds and Habitats Directives through a multi-annual work programme. This data collection programme, which is substantially complete, together with the setting of Conservation Objectives, will enable all new and renewal aquaculture applications to be assessed.

Conservation Objectives have been set for Ballyness SAC. The next step in the process is the carrying out of an Appropriate Assessment by the Marine Institute.  This is being progressed taking account of the need to facilitate the use of scientific and other resources on a flexible basis across the full range of bays. While the Appropriate Assessments are carried out on a bay by bay basis, each licence application within the bay must be assessed individually.

Section 4 of the Fisheries and Foreshore (Amendment) Act 1998 provides that an application for an aquaculture licence shall not be determined, if the applicant commences to engage in aquaculture at the place or waters to which the application relates before a licence is granted under the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997. My Department’s Marine Engineering Division has confirmed that unauthorised aquaculture activity has taken place at a number of sites in Ballyness Bay, including the sites operated by the person referred to by the Deputy.  My Department has written to the persons involved in this unauthorised activity seeking to have the illegal structures removed.

In accordance with the provisions of the applicable legislation, my Department cannot process further the application submitted by the person referred to by the Deputy due to the unauthorised activity on the area in question. The unauthorised aquaculture must cease and the related structures must be removed. It would then be open to the person referred to by the Deputy to apply for an Aquaculture and Foreshore Licence to conduct aquaculture in respect of this area.