Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the Chairman's question, the difference relates to the value of sterling. There is a cross-Border dimension to the Loughs Agency and payments are made there in sterling. Obviously, sterling has changed again since Brexit but there may be savings there.

On the salmon management regime, salmon is a listed species under the habitats directive. The management of salmon is designed to ensure that stocks are appropriately protected and that adequate spawn survives over the winter to ensure the long-term survival of the genetically individual river stock. There are 143 salmon rivers and a counting project is carried out every year to ascertain whether there is a surplus of stock such as to permit fishing. Every year in late autumn to October, there is an assessment and recommendations are given locally as to which rivers are open for fishing. It is very scientific. Every salmon returns to the river where it was born, so it is important to be able to assess the status of every river. That is what has been done. That said, the stock itself is still under considerable threat in the North Atlantic due to predation, sea lice and different things. It is an ongoing process to ensure that we have the best scientific data and knowledge available to maintain the salmon species, which is so important to our angling sector.

The Chairman asked at the outset about Brexit and sterling and we may have a significant reduction in tourism from the English market this year, which affects the country as a whole. However, that includes a significant revenue derived by the angling sector from British tourists. That has an impact. Since 2007, commercial and recreational angling has been restricted to those stocks in rivers which are meeting their conservation limits. That is important because we do not want to see any area wiped out or overfished in regard to this valuable resource.