John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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If Inland Fisheries Ireland, or any other body, has made a complaint to the EPA regarding river pollution caused by local authorities, and if the EPA has acted on that by issuing instructions to the local authorities to clean up their act and it does not happen, will Inland Fisheries Ireland then insist that the EPA brings the local authorities to court, or penalise or sanction them in some way? There are obvious cases where raw sewage is entering the rivers of this country and nobody seems to care that much about it. I am told by fishermen from many parts of the country that this is the case and is worsening. Your Department issues instructions about catch and release or other ways of improving the stocks in the rivers while the local authorities are killing the fish. Will you find out if that is the case and what actions are being taken?