Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

It is regrettable that the Farrell Grant Sparks review of the inland fisheries sector and the issue of the postponement of the elections to the fisheries boards were not brought before the Dáil last spring when the report was available so that Members would have a full opportunity to give proper and careful consideration to measures proposed to bring about a massive transformation of how our inland fisheries are managed.

A significant number of our people — perhaps a minimum of 100,000 — take part in angling, a sport that is supported by young and old. There are grave concerns, particularly with regard to the regulator and the perceived possible sell-off of our valuable inland fisheries resources. It will be much more difficult for local communities to manage inland waterways.

I welcome this belated debate and thank the Minister of State for his part in bringing it about, but the 25 minutes allowed for it do not permit adequate discussion of this important aspect of our national life. Anglers and other stakeholders wonder whether the abolition of the central and regional fisheries boards and the subsuming of their executive functions into the national inland fisheries authority, the proposed new authority to be based in Carrick-on-Shannon, flies in the face of the Government's decentralisation policy. We saw last week that this policy is in grave difficulties with few people wanting to move from Dublin.

Attention has been drawn to the fact that the existing organisation of the central and regional boards will be replaced by regional advisory committees once the consultation period is over. There is grave concern as to what extent valuable local knowledge which has been built up over decades and generations about water catchment areas, water quality and, most importantly, fishery stocks will impact on the new centralised agency.

There is a feeling among the inland fisheries community that there has not been sufficient consultation. The Minister of State said he would have this year for that, but it would have been a better approach to launch the report in the House when it was published, have a full debate and then put it to the boards during the past six months for consideration.

It is bizarre that at the same time as we have the dismantling of the marine section of the Department, with different functions of the Department being split into two or possibly three sections, the Minister of State talks about a new joined-up strategy for inland fisheries. I agree with that, but the Department does not seem to be pursuing it in a coherent manner. Members and stakeholders would like to see the legislation for the national inland fisheries authority as early as possible.

The Minister of State announced last week the establishment of the regulatory regime to oversee mechanisms governing the transfer, use of and access to fishery licensing in the commercial and recreational areas and the determination of fisheries effort and total allowable catches etc. The gravest concern arising from this is the possibility that a situation may evolve whereby valuable resources will be hived off and privatised.

Like my colleagues, I am concerned about the abolition of the research role of the Central Fisheries Board and its absorption into the Marine Institute. The Marine Institute has done incredibly valuable work, but so too has the Central Fisheries Board. When I first became spokesperson for my party on this issue, the board's Indecon report was invaluable to me and informed all I thought and said on the matter.

The detailed Farrell Grant Sparks report raises some important issues, particularly regarding fishing effort and stocks. However, people's concerns about the maintenance and preservation of our inland fisheries far outweigh these. The report refers to the integration of the conservation and preservation of inland fisheries species and their habitats into the wider ecological and environmental heritage. It focuses on the water quality agenda for the country as a whole. These are valuable ambitions and policy objectives. However, in a year when we have seen a dramatic fall-off in numbers of visiting anglers and when we have had ongoing debate within the angling community across Europe on salmon conservation, the report seems to be a diktat in that it recommends the implementation of a dictatorial policy for inland fisheries.

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