Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The budget for Inland Fisheries Ireland, which is the key agency, is €30 million. That is an annual application. The annual revenue of approximately €500,000 adds to that but is not the key element. Of that €30 million, some €20 million is for salaries, particularly for fish protection personnel who monitor what is happening in the rivers. We will have to look at this in connection with what we are doing on the national land use review and what work the GSI and the EPA are doing in regard to the scientific assessment of our river basins and of our water quality. Inland fisheries is one of the areas where we need to look again and invest further to use it as the measure, particularly of water quality. Salmonid species, in particular, are highly sensitive both to water temperature and pollution. We are at risk of both. The EPA's assessment that the rivers in the south east known as the three sisters have been fully saturated with nitrogen and phosphate is a warning call. One of the best ways of monitoring, measuring and getting local community involvement and engagement and an understanding of the quality and health of our rivers is by monitoring, assessing and protecting the health of our salmonid fish stocks, in particular. They are the canary in the mine, if we are not mixing metaphors, because they will tell us whether their environment is in pristine condition.