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

I thank all of the Senators who contributed to the debate today. As I have already stated, without a specific provision in the 2010 Act Inland Fisheries Ireland is hampered in effectively conserving and protecting the inland fisheries and sea angling resources and in fully enforcing the Inland Fisheries Acts. This and the timely enactment of the amendment Bill will ensure that there is no period during which offences can be committed with impunity. I reiterate that all current provisions on offences in the Inland Fisheries Acts continue in full force and effect and the powers of fisheries officers remain.

I thank Senator Leyden for his support, on this Stage at the very least, and for Fianna Fáil support in the Dáil in the passage of the Bill through its various Stages. The Senator raises questions that he has raised in the past about specific areas in his own constituency. I know that when he raised these previously at the IFI open day in Buswells Hotel, the Department asked IFI to respond and to set out the position on the midland permit to the Senator. I understand that this was completed. The Senator's office emailed the fisheries division and the division then responded by email. The big difference is that the waters in question are owned by the ESB. They are managed by IFI under agreement with the ESB. Part of the arrangement is that the funding of permits goes to the IFI in respect of management. This is a different scenario to what one would find on many other lakes that are fully under the control of the State. I would be happy to have senior officials engage with the Senator on this and I hope that this issue will not delay the passage of this very important Bill. Delay of this Bill, the Senator's very valid concerns notwithstanding, will undermine the protection of rivers and lakes all across the State. It is important that we acknowledge that.

The case raised by Senator Conway-Walsh was settled by the court. I am happy to report that, in addition to costs, reparation was also imposed by the court and the total cost to the defendant was approximately €37,000. The ownership and title of rivers is obviously a matter of property. In the context of updating the legislation covering inland fisheries, a detailed examination has been undertaken of titled rivers and rates payable. This is a very comprehensive piece of work. The Fisheries Act 1959 was itself a consolidation of Acts going back to the 1800s. The formation of the State and all that went with that must also be taken into account so there is a lot of work going on at the moment. This work is ongoing and will hopefully be brought to fruition in this Dáil and Seanad term.

Senators Lombard and Conway raised the issue of the management of our rivers and streams. Senator Lombard is right about the requirements. There are differences depending on private fisheries. No works can be done first of all without the consent of the local authorities. Where local authorities apply to Inland Fisheries Ireland work can then be consented to. One often gets the situation where county councils may decide very late in the day to clean a lake under a drainage scheme or under emergency works. They have to go through the process, however, of applying to IFI. I understand that there has never been a case where IFI has refused permission to a local authority to clean under a drainage or emergency scheme where funding might be provided. There are plenty of examples of this around the country.

Senator Burke mentioned the draft net fishing ban. The ban did not achieve what it was hoped it would achieve. It did in the first year, when there was an upsurge of returning numbers, but it has not had the desired impact since then. That is not to say that it has not worked because we do not know what situation we would be in today if this ban had not been imposed. We would be in a worse situation than we are now. There are a number of different theories as to what exactly has caused the decline in salmon stocks, be it global warming, large super trawlers scooping up all before them, or sea lice. We cannot exactly say. We do know that there is a reduction in numbers across the southern half of Europe in particular. As one goes further up, to the North of Scotland and up towards Norway, the level of decline is less serious. Clearly then the ban has not worked to the extent that we had hoped. That said, stocks in some rivers have increased or stabilised. In other areas, unfortunately, decline has continued. On the issue of the development of our natural assets, resources and rivers, €2 million was invested under the national strategy for angling development in 50 community lead projects. There will be a roll-out of further projects this year. I agree with Senator Paddy Burke on the valuable work of the staff of Inland Fisheries Ireland, IFI. I commend IFI on its very important work. Like all front-line staff, they are under pressure in terms of numbers and resources. I have continually raised that matter with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to ensure we get adequate resources to meet the staff requirements and capital investment in equipment to carry out conservation work. The Senator is correct that angling and angling tourism is a valuable resource to many parts of the country. We are continuing to try to develop this sector and the national angling development fund will aid accessibility by the replacement of stiles and the improvement of walkways to allow lakes and rivers to become accessible. This ongoing work is community led in conjunction with Inland Fisheries Ireland and I want to see continued promotion of it.

I thank the Senators for their support of the Bill. I look forward to its timely passage through the Oireachtas. Let me repeat that I will engage with Senator Leyden on the issues he has raised.