There have been calls for Minister of State Joe McHugh to clarify his position regarding a meeting he facilitated between the Taoiseach, the Minister for Agriculture and an international fish farming company, Marine Harvest.
Since the meeting earlier this year, Mr McHugh has been appointed Minister of State in the Department of Communications with special responsibility for Natural Resources, as well as Minister of State with responsibility for Gaeltacht Affairs in the Department of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
It has been reported that Marine Harvest asked for a "champion of aquaculture" to "co-ordinate the work of" state bodies and agencies in the area of fish farming at the meeting.
Bord Iascaigh Mhara has applied for planning permission for a fish farm in Galway Bay that would more than double the country's production of farmed salmon.
It is expected that the licence will be sold or leased to Marine Harvest.
When asked for a response to this the Department issued a statement saying: "The Minister of State has no remit in fish farming and aquaculture in the context of his appointment as Minister of State.
"In the context of Inland Fisheries the remit of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is to conserve, protect, develop and promote the inland fisheries resource and sea angling.
"The annual value to the national economy of this sector has been assessed in a recent in-depth study at €750m.
"The functions in relation to Inland Fisheries are carried out via the Department's State Agency Inland Fisheries Ireland.
"Both the Department and IFI have consistently expressed support for aquaculture development which is environmentally sustainable and which meets with Ireland's obligations under domestic and international legislation, most notably the EU's Habitats Directive the requirements."
