Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I am pleased to present the Inland Fisheries (Amendment) Bill 2017 for the consideration of the House. The purpose of this Bill is to confer an explicit power on Inland Fisheries Ireland, IFI, to bring and prosecute summary proceedings for inland fisheries offences. It achieves this by amending Part 4 of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 by the insertion of a specific provision providing for IFI to have power to bring and prosecute summary proceedings for offences under the Acts specified. It will ensure that IFI can fully enforce the Inland Fisheries Acts. The Bill also makes some additional corrections to the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 to ensure that minor omissions in that Act, which could affect IFI's prosecution powers, are fully resolved.

Before providing Members with an overview of the different elements within the Bill, I will share some background. IFI is the State agency responsible for the protection, conservation, development and promotion of Ireland’s inland fisheries and sea angling resources. IFI was formed on 1 July 2010 following the amalgamation of the Central Fisheries Board and the seven regional fisheries boards into a single agency. Ireland has over 74,000 km of rivers and streams and 128,000 ha of lakes, all of which fall under the jurisdiction of IFI. IFI's jurisdiction also extends to the 12-mile limit around the coast.

The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment received advice from the Office of the Attorney General in February 2017 to the effect that IFI does not have a power to bring prosecutions under the Inland Fisheries Acts. It was advised that an explicit power to prosecute should be inserted into Part 4 of the 2010 Act as a matter of priority. The impact of this advice is that until the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 is amended, prosecutions brought by IFI for which proceedings have been initiated cannot be proceeded with. There are approximately 150 cases that fall into this category. It should be noted that cases that have already been finally disposed of by the courts are not affected. In light of this advice, the amendments to the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 are being pursued as a matter of priority. The Short Title of the Bill is the Inland Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2017.

I shall now turn to the provisions of the Bill. The Bill comprises five sections, the main provisions of which I will summarise with the following definitions. Section 1 provides that “Act of 2010” means the Inland Fisheries Act 2010. The amendment of section 2 of the Act of 2010 updates the definitions section - section 2 - of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 to clarify that references to the “Act of 1962” refer to the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1962. In section 3 the amendment of section 77 of Act of 2010 provides for additional corrections to the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 to ensure that minor omissions in that Act, which could impact IFI's prosecution powers, are fully resolved. The amendments relate to the table in section 77 of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010. Part 2 of the table is amended to substitute "Section of Act of 1962” for “Section of Principal Act”. Part 2 of the table is also amended by the insertion of two news rows at rows two and three. These insertions make reference to section 28 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1962 and the associated penalties. Part 3 of the Table is amended by the substitution of “Section of Act of 1994” for “Section of Principal Act”. Section 4 deals with summary proceedings and amends Part 4 of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 by the insertion of a new section 80A following section 80, which will allow summary proceedings to be brought and prosecuted by IFI for offences under the Acts listed. Section 5 contains general provisions relating to the Short Title, commencement and collective citation. I look forward to engaging with Deputies in the debate on the Bill on Committee Stage.

As with all natural resources, inland fisheries must be managed carefully and responsibly. First, decisions on the management of fish stocks and the waterways must be made using the best available scientific evidence. Local knowledge is also important in helping to guide decisions. Decisions relating to fisheries and rivers may not always be popular but they are made in the interests of the different stakeholders and in the interests of the environment. Second, we must ensure that we have an organisation that can direct our policy of careful and responsible management of our inland fisheries. That organisation is Inland Fisheries Ireland, whose members work diligently to manage our inland fisheries for the benefit of us all. Our aim is to ensure that Inland Fisheries Ireland has the power to carry out this vital task and that is the purpose of this Bill.

Poaching is not a victimless crime. Every time a person poaches fish, he or she is stealing from you and me and from the people of Ireland. Poaching threatens not only the careful, responsible management of our inland fisheries but also the important angling sector. Angling is a hugely important rural recreation activity with benefits for local people and local economies in terms of the substantial tourism that it generates. This legislation will give Inland Fisheries Ireland clear and direct powers to tackle the crime of poaching. We also must acknowledge the problems of pollution crime and pollution caused by industry, which results in damage to our river ecosystems and in fish kills.

This legislation will help us with the careful and responsible management of our inland fisheries natural resource and the legislation will help protect this natural resource for the benefit of anglers, local businesses and communities across the country. This Bill is important because it impacts on IFI's ability to bring prosecutions and fully enforce the Inland Fisheries Acts. IFI needs these powers to effectively conserve and protect Ireland’s inland fisheries and sea-angling resource. My intention is that amendments to the 2010 Act will be in place well within the statutory period of the six-month timeframe for the initiation of proceedings following the date of alleged offences. This will ensure that anyone who commits an offence will still be liable to prosecution and it is intended that there should be no period during which offences can be committed with impunity. All current provisions and offences of the Inland Fisheries Acts continue in full force and effect. I am happy to commend the Bill to the House.

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