Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I welcome back the Minister of State. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. It seems we have returned to the same issues we dealt with three years ago and the situation has got worse in the Minister of State's absence. The Minister of State did not answer my question. I asked whether he will follow the scientific advice. He does not need to publish it. It is as clear as day and available on the fishery board's website. That advice states we should end mixed stock fishing, also known as drift net fishing, at sea. If it too late to be done for this year, it should be done by the end of 2006. The Government can no longer prevaricate.

I am sure the Minister of State has read the scientific advice. I want a simple "yes" or "no" answer. Regarding the management of wild salmon stocks, does the Government believe in following scientific advice? At the start of the Minister of State's answer, he stated he had accepted scientific advice. However, the Government has utterly failed to take scientific advice. The Minister of State does not need to take my word for it. He should take the word of the most eminent civil servant in the history of the State, T.K. Whitaker, who is constantly baffled at how this Department can ignore simple straightforward scientific advice regarding the conservation of this most important stock.

Does the Minister of State intend to follow the scientific advice, which could not be clearer, by the end of this year? Our stocks are in crisis. We need an immediate response, which means an end to mixed stock fisheries. That would be greeted with great joy by other European countries because we catch their fish. Does the Minister of State intend to drag the issue out for another year and get into wrangles on compensation, which is a secondary issue? The key issue is the scientific advice to end mixed stock fisheries. Will that be done this year?

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