Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the guests to the committee and I have a number of specific questions.

My first question is on the development of sea angling. Obviously the infrastructure of small piers are essential for people to access the sea. I am not referring to the larger piers at Rossaveal or Killybegs. The piers in much smaller communities are inadequate. One example is Dunbeg, County Clare but there are other examples in the county. Dunbeg has a lot of tourism footfall, the area also has a well known golf course which attracts a lot of tourists and it has become a wedding venue. Dunbeg has a small pier which is inadequate because it is tidal and people can only access the pier at certain tides. The community is very active and hosts a well known drama festival which also attracts tourists. The community is doing everything possible to develop tourism. Dunbeg is on the coast so sea angling would be a normal extension of its tourism product. However, the pier is inadequate and tidal. There is money available from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to develop piers but only when the project has passed the stages of planning and environmental impact statements. Both those stages must be undertaken by Clare County Council but it does not have the money to progress the project. The community has been left with no option and cannot develop the infrastructure, a potential source of extra tourism that could also retain tourists that visit Dunbeg. Can the delegation do anything for piers in places like Dunbeg? There are small piers dotted along the coast ranging from Donegal, to west Cork and around the east coast. Is there a proposal to build piers? Is there a proposal to get piers to a stage where they can be built and then apply for funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine?

I have a few questions on sea lice. Is sea lice an increasing problem? Does it impact on sea angling? What measures can be taken to mitigate the problem?

Is IFI, a Government agency, happy with the general degree of co-operation by BIM? Obviously IFI and BIM are Government agencies with different remits but they both work in the same waters. How has BIM treated submissions by Inland Fisheries Ireland? I do not know whether the submissions can be discussed but I do expect an answer on the general co-operation between IFI and BIM.

On 6 March the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine stated that Food Harvest 2020 constituted a Government strategic plan. Does Inland Fisheries Ireland think that the agriculture component of the plan should be submitted for an environmental impact statement? I ask the question in view of the potential impact by Food Harvest 2020 on sea angling and the development of tourism off our coasts.

I know that weir fisheries are not within our remit. However, I commend the work done by Inland Fisheries Ireland and the ESB on eel fisheries, particularly at Parteen weir.