Mr. Fintan Gorman:

River dredging is the business of the Office of Public Works. Inland Fisheries Ireland would be consulted. I do appreciate what the Deputy is saying as I have been around the country and have heard of areas where rivers have been decimated. The IFI has been consulted but when an egg is broken it is not that easy to put it back together. IFI is often sent for in order to pick up the pieces of the broken egg and put it back together. I think that IFI and angling groups and bodies should have a greater input into what is going to be done on the point debated. There is a big demand in areas of the country where flooding is a problem so one has competing interests. Unfortunately, where people have been flooded in recent years the pleadings of IFI in such situations are not top of the list of priorities. It is trying to ameliorate the flooding situation. As politicians, members will realise that when someone’s home is being flooded, pleading about fish is not going to get a great hearing.