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

I am very pleased to present the Bill for the consideration of the House. Its purpose 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 IFI with the power to bring and prosecute summary proceedings under the specified Acts. 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 the Act which might impact on IFI's prosecution powers are fully resolved.

I will set out some background information on the Bill. 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 the advice is that until the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 is amended, prosecutions brought by IFI for which proceedings have been initiated cannot proceed. There are approximately 150 cases which fall into this category. Cases which have already been finally disposed of by the courts are not affected. In light of the advice, the amendments to the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 are being pursued as a matter of priority. The Bill has passed all five Stages in the Dáil without amendment.

The Bill is important because it impacts on the capacity of IFI 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 resources. My intention is that amendments to the 2010 Act will be in place well before the expiry of the statutory six-month time limit for the initiation of proceedings following the date of the alleged offences. As the six-month period expires in early August, it is imperative to finalise the Bill as soon as possible to ensure that anyone who committing an offence will still be liable to prosecution. It is intended that there should be no period during which offences can be committed with impunity. All correct provisions and offences of the Inland Fisheries Acts continue in full force and effect.