Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

This issue boils down to some simple facts. Fermoy Town Council has been instructed to fix a fish pass on the River Blackwater in Fermoy to adhere to an edict from the European Commission handed down on foot of a complaint by persons or bodies unknown on the matter of the impediment to fish swimming up river west of Fermoy. The local council does not have the means to pay for the repair of the fish pass, which is protected and which the council owns. The estimated cost of repair is €100,000. The Department is unwilling to cover the cost of the repairs. Last Christmas, the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, gave Fermoy Town Council until the end of 2010 to repair the damaged fish pass at Fermoy weir to become compliant on foot of the complaint to the EU Commission.

The Southern Regional Fisheries Board, which may or may not have been the originators of the complaint and which favours the replacement of the weir with a rock ramp pass, when asked through a freedom of information request about its involvement in the matter informed the secretary of the Rowing Club, Mr. Donal O'Keeffe, that old files were destroyed in a flood in 2009. In the meantime, the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, informed Fermoy Rowing Club last week that he is deeply concerned no progress has been made in the past six months. He went on to indicate that the rock ramp would definitely happen if Fermoy Town Council does not repair the fish pass. When informed that the council has no money to effect these repairs, the Minister of State made it clear it is the duty of Fermoy Town Council, as owners of the weir, a protected structure, to find the money somewhere. The Minister said that he cannot give them money towards the cost of repairs to the fish pass. However, the Government, of which the Minister is a member, is willing spend a multiple of €100,000 in order to install a rock ramp pass at the behest of the Southern Regional Fisheries Board

Incidentally, there is no indication that the EU Commission has instructed the Government to install a rock ramp pass but it was satisfied that the repair of the fish pass was sufficient. In the meantime, we still do not know how many salmon are moving up river, because there is no fish counter in Fermoy town.

We all want to see fish being caught on the rod, and I do not particularly wish to see the Duke of Devonshire taking the lion's share of the spoils below in Clondulane weir, but we must ensure that there is a balance struck between ensuring that fish have safe passage and guarding the future of the rowing club.

Let the Government assist with the cost of the repair of the fish pass and install a fish counter in Fermoy. Let common sense prevail.

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