Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. It says something for parliamentary questions that on the day we have a question down, a significant meeting is taking place. I commend the Minister of State and my colleague, Councillor Denis Landy, from south Tipperary, who has valiantly represented the fishermen concerned over recent years.

The issue arose when South Tipperary County Council put outhold diffusers in the bed of the river near Carrick-on-Suir. It is incredible that it did not apply at that stage to the Minister for a foreshore licence. Is the Minister of State now confirming that there is no foreshore licence and that the works were illegal? The fishermen concerned are from lower income households who would have supplemented their incomes through their fishing licences. They have suffered a grave loss. They tell me that on a north haul they have lost 100 yards of haul because of the presence of these structures on the bed of the river, that at the top of the haul the buoy is in the way and they lose another 50 yards and that a tributary of the great River Suir, Ballylynch River, is blocked from pipes downstream and is filling up with silts. They say also that when flooding occurs in the area, fisheries at that location are seriously eroded. I welcome that a meeting is taking place between South Tipperary County Council and the fishermen but if the foreshore process was not legally gone through, is it the case that it must start again from scratch and the fishermen compensated for this loss of livelihood?

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