Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 23 September 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications

Inland Fisheries Ireland: Chairperson Designate

11:00 am

Photo of Michael FitzmauriceMichael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The first things I noted were the functions of IFI, namely, to promote, support, facilitate and advise the Minister on the conservation, protection, management, marketing, development and improvement of inland fisheries. Can Mr. Gorman give me a straight answer? In Lanesborough there is Asian clam. In Shannonbridge and Carrick-on-Shannon there is the same problem. There are some in the River Barrow also. People are angered and frustrated around the country when they go to Inland Fisheries Ireland about a problem, only to be told that it is the National Parks and Wildlife Service that deals with it. They go around in circles. If an invasive species was found in any river in the country, would IFI be responsible? Would the National Parks and Wildlife Service be responsible? I want a statement on who would be responsible. On conservation and protection, the effort made by IFI and the National Parks and Wildlife Service is the most pathetic I have ever seen made in my life. There were supposed to be reports on what was happening, but they were delayed, although I believe they may be out now.

Around the country, during the years, we brought thousands and thousands of English anglers here. At a time when the sterling exchange rate is very positive for a person coming here from England, we have not marketed our product, rivers and country. In Rooskey, compared to the number who came at one time, the place is dead. If one moves right along the River Shannon or any of the rivers by its side, the story is the same. We talk about flooding, but when there is a problem such as a blockage, everyone says what cannot be done, but there is nobody there to say what actually can be done to solve the problem.

We are all great at saying one cannot touch that as it might affect something but it is all right if the farmer’s animals drown. Someone must step up to the mark and take responsibility.

Do administrative staff in Inland Fisheries Ireland’s depots have vehicles supplied to them or is it just staff examining rivers? I have seen some of the vehicles used by the agency in the west. If one were trying to catch a poacher in one of them, one would not be going too far. I note from photos of vehicles parked at the agency’s main offices that they are mainly four-wheel drives.

There was a strategy to remove pike from inland fisheries as the main concentration was on trout and salmon. If one examines good practice in other European countries, such a policy has been abandoned because the statistics did not stack up in favour of such action. Will there be a change in policy in that regard?

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