Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

If this committee could implement the report, we would be flying. Unfortunately, we have to rely on the Government to take on board the recommendations and implement them.

On the proposals around heritage licences, I agree that these should be progressed. One of the responses from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine was that the national inshore fishermen's forum was the appropriate vehicle through which to move forward the recommendations in the report. I understand it has met a couple of times thus far. Perhaps the delegates' would outline their thoughts on the forum and whether they see it as a vehicle for moving forward some of the recommendations.

The committee also received responses from various other Departments in relation to the recommendations that applied to them. The committee secretariat might undertake to forward those responses to the delegates for their information. I am sure the response which would be of interest to the Donegal islands in particular is the one from the Inland Fisheries Ireland in relation to salmon licences, which proposal is based on the scientific recommendations that we hear all of the time in relation to salmon. As such, there was little progress to be made in that area in terms of the committee's recommendations.

I would welcome the delegates' views on the potential of the national inshore fishermen's forum to progress the recommendations and so on. They might also expand on whether they have any engagement with the fisheries local action groups, FLAGs, in their areas and what opportunities, if any, there are in that regard.