Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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532. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the concerns from the fishing community that the size and scale of the activities for which an application relates will render the proposed site and its waters inaccessible to local fishermen in regard to an application for an aquaculture licence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29804/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Applications for aquaculture licences are considered by my Department in accordance with the provisions of the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act and the 1933 Foreshore Act and applicable EU legislation.

The licence applications referred to by the Deputy are in respect of sites located in an area which is designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive. All applications in such sites are required to be appropriately assessed for the purpose of environmental compliance with the relevant legislation. The Appropriate Assessment of this area has been completed and is available on my Department's website, www.agriculture.gov.ie.

The overall assessment process for aquaculture licence applications includes a period of statutory and public consultation. This is currently under way in the case of these applications.

As the licence applications referred to by the Deputy remain under active consideration by my Department as part of a statutory process it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.