Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to add my voice to the concerns that have been raised. As the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment in the last Government, I am truly shocked at what is going on and the evidence I have seen is disturbing. All of our inland fishing is for the benefit of people on the ground and for local angling clubs. What I am beginning to see is that something is going on that is not right. From the evidence I have seen it needs to be investigated as a matter of urgency by an independently appointed person. The onus is on the Minister of State to take this on and to do that as a matter of urgency. There is no point in leaving it for internal investigations because there are allegations up and down the scale here. As Deputy Ring has said, one man who has given almost 40 years of service has been left outside the door for a trivial matter. Yet we see evidence of other things that may be going on so it is important that these things are investigated independently. This is very disturbing.

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