Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is much potential for significant investment in our fishing and angling industry. We in the midlands, and especially Westmeath, feel we have not been afforded the investment our county deserves. As I stated, we see ourselves as a poor relation. We are designated as a lake county for a very valid reason. It is well deserved. The Minister of State has lakes in his own area but we have Lough Owel, Lough Ennell, Lough Derravaragh, Lough Lene, Lough Iron, White Lake, Gaulmoylestown Lake and the River Inny, which I live beside and which flows into the River Shannon. We also have the lakes around the River Shannon, and I know some are in the Minister of State's own place. We are associated with that. There is also the River Brosna, the River Gaine and the Royal Canal.

I live on the banks of the canal, which travels as a seductive artery of attraction through a number of counties, including Westmeath. I am thankful we played a very positive role as part of the Royal Canal amenity group back in the 1980s. At that stage, madcap and lunatic ideas were being propagated at the highest level. People were then talking about the M4, on which the Leas-Cheann Comhairle now travels, and they spoke about building it along the bed of the canal. Ordinary volunteers with the Royal Canal amenity group worked against that. I can name them in my own area. They included Mr. Jimmy Evans, who is currently living in Watson Mills, and Mr. Tony Murtagh. A few of us started that, including Mr. Eddie Slane. They were great people on the Royal Canal amenity group and they saved the canal. We now have the greatest amenity in Europe. We pay much lip service and talk about it but if it were properly used, it would bring life back to areas like Killucan, Thomastown, back to Mullingar, and to Coolnahay, where Paddy and Clare Crinnigan have a massive attraction. It could go to Ballinacarrig, Abbeyshrule, Ballymahon and to the Shannon. We have a wonderful facility and it is what we need.

The Wild Atlantic Way has been correctly focused upon and the necessary resources have been allocated, including significant promotional and advertising campaigns that have borne fruit, with thousands of visitors and tourists staying in the area and contributing to economic activity and new business employment along the way. The same focus or desire has not been placed on our lakes regions and the Central Fisheries Board, now Inland Fisheries Ireland, has let down the region in this respect. We should be clear about that. It is great at producing reports, scientific work and signing documents but this is where it is at. We have hosted national and international fishing competitions at senior and junior levels and we have tremendous facilities and accommodation, including hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation, along with many other worthwhile attractions.

We had a fish farm at Lough Owel guaranteeing a supply of fish for over 50 years. All we heard was a sneaky under-the-table announcement from the board of Inland Fisheries Ireland just over a year ago that it intended to close the fish farm from January 2018. There was uproar and an eruption from the people who use it and saw its value. They rightly protested and organised public meetings. I am thankful that everybody came to their senses in the interim because of the public uproar at such a proposal. I thank the Minister of State as he travelled in his own time, late in the evening, to visit us. He played a very central role in bringing sense and direction back. He is no fool and he knows his industry. He knows what agriculture and aquaculture mean to those areas.

We need approximately €3 million in investment and it is well worthwhile upgrading and refurbishing that fish farm to ensure it has the capacity to serve its purpose. We need a cohesive plan that will exploit in a beneficial way the enormous potential of the fishing industry as a recreational and tourism product in the midlands, especially Westmeath. I unashamedly advocate for my home county as we have been left behind. We do not have much industry coming in and everything seems to bypass us.

There is an excellent road network with the N4, which many people use, the intersecting N52 and the M6. They are wonderful roads. There is also a rail line with a decent service and there are tremendous education facilities, but we are bypassed. We have this natural resource and we must use it to best effect for the area. There are many rural areas across Westmeath. It is mainly a rural agricultural county aside from a few big towns such as Mullingar, Athlone, Kinnegad, Moate and Castlepollard. That is the reason we need this to come to fruition.

The fishing clubs in Westmeath are ready, willing and able to play their part. I appeal to the Minister to use their knowledge, capabilities and expertise. He should not depend on consultants who are far removed from reality or practical knowledge and who draw up strategic plans and prepare theoretical reports without an ounce of practicality in them. I always pride myself on what I did in this House for the carers in the early 2000s. I was chairperson of the Committee on Social Affairs. I sat with colleagues from all parties and we invited 100 people representing carers, representative groups and organisations to make submissions. We hand wrote the report. There was no use of consultants or wasting money. The report contained 15 recommendations. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle's colleague, the late Seamus Brennan, was the Minister at the time. Fair play to him, he and his colleagues - Fianna Fáil was in Government - implemented seven of the recommendations. It just shows what can be done. We broke the taboo that a person could not get two social welfare payments. Most Members will remember that this was the sacred, cardinal rule. We recommended that a person get 50% of the carer's allowance if they had another payment. That report is available and I can leave the Dáil with the badge of honour-----

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