Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Ahearn again for raising this really important issue. I regret IFI was not in a position, from the time that elapsed since the Senator tabled this important topic, to provide that requested information on the number of calls. However, we will follow up on that and get back to the Senator.

Also, I have a detailed breakdown of the number of prosecutions, penalty notices and seizures that were made on the River Suir over the ten-year period and expenditure across regions. We have that in tabular form and we will share it with the Senator.

The River Suir is patrolled intensively by the IFI with an operational four-person unit in the west Waterford district. It strikes me as a lot of strain on that four-person unit, given the area it has to cover, as well as the covert and overt elements of that. The catchment is policed during daylight, at night and weekend hours. There are irregular instances of successful protection work in this catchment. As recently as 30 January, the IFI secured a conviction for illegal angling on the river, resulting in a fine of €1,000 and €500 towards legal costs.