Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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968. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the contacts, formal and informal and written and oral, made by his Department with the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board in advance of the board's recent decision to amend the licence held by a company (details supplied) for its salmon farm at Inishfamard, County Cork. [24756/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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In furtherance of its consideration of an appeal against a Ministerial decision to amend the licence referred to by the Deputy, the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board (ALAB) requested specific documentation from my Department relating to the original amendment. This request from ALAB was in written form and was received by my office in January 2018 and forwarded to the relevant Division of my Department in the normal way.

ALAB’s request was in accordance with the applicable provisions of the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act. My Department forwarded the relevant documentation to ALAB in the normal way.

In March 2018 my Department met with the Chair of the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board to discuss, in broad terms, a number of routine corporate matters. The appeal referred to by the Deputy was not discussed.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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969. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the environmental studies carried out by the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board before deciding to increase the production limit of the salmon farm operated by a company (details supplied) at Inishfamard, County Cork. [24757/18]

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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970. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board has breached the Aarhus Convention by amending the salmon licence operated by a company (details supplied) at Inishfamard, County Cork without consulting the public and environmental bodies. [24758/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 969 and 970 together.

The Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board (ALAB) is an independent body established by statute for the purpose of considering appeals of Ministerial decisions in respect of aquaculture.

The matters referred to by the Deputy are operational matters for ALAB and my Department has no function in that regard. The Deputy’s questions have been referred to ALAB for its attention and response directly to the Deputy.