Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Department for its co-operation on this Bill. I thank in particular the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, who listened to the concerns we raised on Committee Stage. I thank the Minister who has also shown the capacity and willingness to accept ideas and concerns from the Opposition.

The inland fisheries sector, generally, is a significant resource which is not utilised or sustainably exploited to the extent that it deserves. We have a real jewel in Ireland in the form of our inland waterways and fisheries. I hope the Minister and his Department will be determined to develop this resource. It is not necessarily an untapped resource but its potential is not being maximised. The same applies to our inland sea fisheries in terms of sea angling and so on. I encourage the Department and the Minister to look on this sector as providing a significant opportunity for growth and jobs and development as well as being a sector that needs to be managed in a very responsible way with respect to fish stocks and sustainability. The interaction I have had arising from this legislation has involved the opportunities that have been untapped in this sector so I hope the Department will be ambitious for the inland waterways and can strike the balance between commercial fishing, angling and the tourism potential the sector needs.

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