Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

The salmon cannot get up to the weir. Apart from the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, launching a vicious attack on "silly little fish" on local radio, he has done very little besides. We have seen a complete failure of systems there. He has appeared before the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and is due back again, I believe, next week. The point is that no account was taken in the €40 million project of the salmon trying to spawn upstream and the local fishermen, who know the river, have been totally ignored in this matter. I appreciate that problems can arise when projects are being built. Nonetheless, I ask the Office of Public Works to listen, for a change, to local opinion which is in tune with what is happening.