Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

Our fish stocks are in danger. There is an onus on this Parliament to modernise the legislation under which our rivers, which constitute an incredible natural resource, are patrolled and protected. We need to ensure that fish stocks are available for future generations. I said earlier that extinction is forever. Some of the measures that have been introduced in recent years have been criticised. I refer to the end of drift netting, for example, or the introduction of a moratorium on fishing for eels. Such controversial measures were introduced with worthy goals in mind - to allow fish stocks to recover, to protect part of the our biosphere and to maintain fish resources for future generations. One of the saddest aspects of the reduction of fish stocks in recent years has been the manner in which various countries have blamed each other. On this side of the Atlantic, we tend to blame the Canadians and the Americans, or even the Spanish, for the extinction of fish stocks. If one goes to Spain or Canada, however, one will hear people blaming Irish and Scottish fishermen, among others. We have to realise that many fish species are in danger of extinction or are at historically low levels. We need to do something about that in our oceans and rivers.

There is a strong and compelling argument for the amalgamation of the various regional fisheries boards, which employ more than 400 people. We should ensure that certain economies of scale apply. I do not doubt that, as the explanatory memorandum suggests, savings will be achieved and existing resources will be better used as a result of this legislation. I am heartened by that because it is good to do more with less in these difficult economic times. I give credit to the members of the regional fisheries boards who have had the difficult task of policing our rivers over many years. They have encountered threats in many instances and violence in some cases. Many of those who engage in the front-line policing of our rivers have a difficult task. They have responded well to the threats and other problems they have encountered over the years. The protection of our watercourses is a multifaceted task. We need to consider the role of bodies like the Environmental Protection Agency and Teagasc in applying the EU policy document known as the nitrates directive. It has been far too easy to attribute the blame for difficulties in farming and other sectors on laws that have been decreed in Brussels and to suggest that the EU has no understanding of the challenges faced by farmers and others. If we do not control the use of nitrous fertilisers on our farms, we will end up polluting our watercourses, which will have a direct impact on the number of fish in our rivers. There is a compelling need to control the kind of pollutants that tend to end up in our rivers and to place a strong obligation on farmers to practice good farm management. The EPA should be also subject to strong obligations. Industrial premises have been polluting our rivers for far too long. They have used various techniques and tricks, such as the discharge of pollutants during night-time hours or the use of holding tanks to wait for what the industry might see as the right time for such discharge. As that has a dramatic impact on our watercourses, we need to control it.

I alluded to planning, which is another area about which we need to think carefully, during this evening's debate on climate change. We have to realise that the use of septic tanks leads to the pollution of watercourses in the case of a significant percentage of Irish soils. Such pollutants can therefore drain directly into our rivers and cause fish kills. This complex problem cannot be solved if industrial, agricultural and domestic discharges, including discharges from septic tanks, are not controlled. If, however, we can put the right kind of controls in these areas that will allow people to live where they should live, which in many cases is in the countryside, allow jobs to be created in our industries without causing contamination and allow our farms produce good, sustainable local produce, we will be able to do all of that and still protect our fish life. There is a great onus on the new body, inland fisheries Ireland, to control all of this and liaise with the other State agencies, whether Teagasc, the EPA or local authorities that have significant responsibilities with regard to municipal sewage treatment works. If we can control all of this, we will be able to create many jobs in fishing and sustain many more people in the countryside. It can be a win-win situation for all bodies involved.

I commend my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, on introducing the legislation to the House. A great deal of it will have to be teased out in detail on Committee Stage but I have no doubt there is a commitment on all sides to improving the water quality of our rivers and their fish stocks and to bringing sustainable employment to our rural areas and on our rivers. That will produce an Ireland of which we can all be proud.

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