Mr. J. Enoch Powellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what waters in Northern Ireland he expects to list as designated by the United Kingdom as shellfish waters for European Community purposes.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe responsibility for implementing the EC directive on the quality required of shellfish waters, including the power to designate the waters to which it shall apply, has been given in England and Wales to the water authorities but in Northern Ireland this function is carried out by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. A list of 27 waters in the United Kingdom which have been designated in the initial round has recently been sent to the EC Commission, as I announced on 10 November in reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Cornwall, North (Mr. Neale). This list did not include any waters in Northern Ireland. The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland had not assembled sufficient technical data to enable them to make any designations at that stage, but I understand that they fully expect to do so in due course.— [Vol. 12, c.53.]