Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an gCathaoirleach agus fáilte mhór a chur roimh Mr. Gorman. You are very welcome. I will be unintentionally rude as I have to leave the meeting soon. I wish Mr. Gorman the very best, in advance, in his role as chairperson of Inland Fisheries Ireland. When I was a youngster I used to go around the rivers and lakes of south Leitrim with a fishing rod and a worm and look out for the bailiffs.

I attended a meeting with staff in the IFI offices in Drumsna a few weeks ago. I am aware that the union has campaigned for a restoration of some of the cuts that were made. Normally one looks for things like policies, practices, equipment and statistics. These were very impressive but what bowled me over entirely was the enthusiasm of the staff in the IFI Drumsna office. Seldom have I come across staff who are so enthused about the work they do. A striking example of this was one lad who came in after the meeting had started. He had got a call out. While he was out he had met some German tourists and when they saw him - like when I was a young fella - they probably thought "here’s a guy from inland fisheries, we could be in trouble here". He spoke with them. They were doing nothing wrong, they took photographs of him and the IFI banner and they were so surprised that an official from IFI would take the time to talk to tourists. I imagine they will now go and tell their angling friends in Germany about it – a small yet significant contribution to tourism. I did not check their teeth to ascertain their ages, some of them may well be middle-aged or beyond but it certainly impressed me.

I have some points on the presentation and Mr. Gorman's responses to some questions. I fully appreciate that the 32% cut in funds and the reduction in staff from 440 to 298 has limited the scope for improvement.

Mr. Gorman mentioned a couple of times that he pleads repeatedly with the Oireachtas to update the legislation. Has IFI a summary list or is it working with any individuals within the Department to point out where there are inadequacies in the current legislation, what gaps exist and what types of changes are to be made? Has he made any submission on that, because I have not seen it? Would it be possible to get a copy of a submission he has made?

One of the questions I had intended to ask was with regard to permits. Mr. Gorman tells us that the problem with the permits can only be resolved when the legislation changes. Perhaps he would tell me about that.

The second point I wish to raise is that, anecdotally, people will say that fish stocks are way down. However, I understand that is not exactly accurate. Perhaps Mr. Gorman would discuss that, the current position with the fish stocks, what the trends are and whether we are doing enough to spread knowledge about fish stocks and the preservation of our fish stocks.

I have one point of disagreement with Mr. Gorman. I understand that having a single unitary business responsible for water quality should be a good idea in theory. However, I cannot agree that Irish Water, in view of its history, will in any way contribute to the ease of his work. In fact, it will probably exacerbate the pollution problem by throwing very expensive consultant reports along with untreated sewage into the waters, but that is my position in that regard.

I welcome Mr. Gorman and it is good to have Dr. Byrne here as well. He is welcome. I wish them the best. What they do is important in financial terms and also for the feel-good factor in Ireland. Inland fisheries are important. Perhaps Mr. Gorman will deal with the points I raised.