Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

Tourists from Germany, Britain, America or anywhere else are more than welcome to come to this country to catch fish in areas where that is allowed. Irish people like Senator O'Donovan and me are welcome to do the same. There is no difference in that respect. The Senator and I know each other for a long time, so I can say to him with respect that the curtain is falling on the salmon stocks themselves. The necessary stocks are not there anymore. That is why we have to give conservation the priority it requires. It must be to the fore in the interests of the survival of the species. As the Senator is aware, commercial fishermen who opted out of that industry permanently were compensated for that as part of a €30 million programme. The key point is that if we can conserve stocks over the years to come, at some point in the future we can return to the status quo that existed before the stocks started to disappear. It would be irresponsible and wrong if all the salmon were to disappear over the next three or four years as a result of an action of this Government or any other Government. It is important that these species survive, and we will do everything possible to sustain their survival in the proper way.