Joe O'Toole (Independent)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy O'Donoghue, for coming to the House this evening. I am aware the Minister was under pressure to get here and I appreciate his attendance. This matter concerns the Minister's own constituency and is one for which responsibility lies in areas other than his Department and outside of Government also but what we need is a little moral support. I wish to share a minute of my time with Senator Dardis.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Joe O'Toole (Independent)
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Just as one comes over Conor Pass, with one's back to Dingle, one can look down over the beautiful valley ahead. On a good day it is possible to see all the way to Galway and on a bad day one can even see Kerry Head. Looking behind one can see the Minister's part of the world and just below that is a beautiful river and a set of lakes. In fact, there are nine lakes and six miles of river along the whole valley. Clahane and the area around the river has a population of approximately 300 people.

The Minister will find the history of the area evocative also. This land should be expropriated by the State. It was owned by the State but, unfortunately, the Land Commission sold it for £1,000 in 1928 and gave it back to Captain Paget at the time. It moved through the family of Lord Harrington and the Earl of Harrington and was bought by a Luxembourg family in the past 20 years. That beautiful area is now for sale. The fishing rights for the six miles of river and the eight lakes are available now for approximately €2.5 million. It is a huge amount of money but as the Minister and I know, this is a community where there is no investment or development. There is no possibility of a factory being built or the development of new undertakings. The development of the angling industry in this area would bring with it various concomitant extras such as gillying, accommodation and food outlets. This is an eco-friendly issue but it is also about community development. I am aware the Minister has taken a strong hand in trying to encourage the South-Western Regional Fisheries Board to take an interest in this. I understand it is prepared to take a decision in principle to support it, and I also understand that Údarás na Gaeltachta is prepared to consider an investment therein.

I ask the Minister to give ministerial support for the idea of a public private partnership. This is not a case of looking for money for nothing. A solid business plan has been drawn up, which I understand has been sent to the Minister's office, outlining how this can work as a viable industry that will give new life to the area and hope to the people living in the area. It will allow a very eco-friendly business to develop. The area was given an EU award in recent years as a special place of natural beauty.

We must not allow this land to fall back into private hands again. I ask that we facilitate its being given back to the people by way of some of the organs of State investing in it. It is an asset which the State can sell on or whatever in the future. In the meantime, local people in that small community have given a commitment to invest €500,000, and I understand there is a possibility of that figure increasing. It is also my understanding that banks are prepared to come up with a certain amount of money after that. There are four ways this can be approached, therefore — through the banks, the local people, Údarás na Gaeltachta and the fisheries board. In terms of the Department examining this issue, is it possible to develop the sport of angling in that area, which needs an investment also?

As a former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I remind the Minister that this is one of the few areas where fishing can be made accessible to people with mobility problems. It is a flat, easily accessible area. There is a road running alongside the river and much can be done in that area.

I hope to get a positive response from the Minister. I did not come into the House tonight expecting him to write a cheque but I would like him to use his influence with his Cabinet colleagues and in other areas to make this happen.

John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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I strongly support what Senator O'Toole said. I also support the local Comharchumann in its efforts to have this fishery returned to community ownership. We debated salmon angling in the House earlier this afternoon. One of the great lessons learned from international practice is that if rivers are vested in their local communities, many of the attendant problems which have bedevilled game fishing rivers in this country, such as poaching and so on, are eliminated. I am aware of a very successful project on the Kerry Blackwater, near Kenmare, where I fish, but this is something even beyond that because it is vested in community ownership. From that point of view alone, it could serve as a flagship for the entire country with regard to the way a fishery could be managed and brought into public ownership.

I am impressed by the fact that this proposal has all been very well costed. A full feasibility study has been carried out. All aspects have been thoroughly studied by the promoters, so it is not a case of flying in the dark. They have produced a very worthwhile plan. I know from my experience with my local angling club that we have been quite successful in drawing down funds from the Centre for Environmental Living and Training, CELT, as well as from the fisheries boards, which were very helpful to us in developing the river banks and installing stiles and facilities for anglers. In every respect, this should be supported, and I hope the Minister can look favourably on what has been said this evening.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senators Dardis and O'Toole for speaking on this issue. I acknowledge its importance to those living in the Clahane area of County Kerry. Matters relating to the management and development of fisheries and angling facilities are not the responsibility of my Department, since they come under the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, and the various fisheries boards.

Regarding tourism, angling is Ireland's third-biggest special interest product, and it is particularly important since it provides essential tourism revenue to less-visited parts of the country. It also provides an especially high level of repeat business, some 59%, compared with an average of 39% for all holiday-makers, meaning that it is a less expensive segment to target while providing a valuable opportunity for positive, word of mouth promotion.

Overseas visitors engaged in angling in Ireland increased from 83,000 in 2003 to 93,000 in 2004, spending an estimated €65.8 million that year. The biggest increase came from Britain, whose numbers increased from 48,000 in 2003 to 58,000 in 2004. While the number of angling visitors has recovered dramatically, from 55,000 in 2002, they are still behind the peak figure of 173,000, recorded in 1999.

Fáilte Ireland, in co-operation with Tourism Ireland, is involved in marketing the angling product in our main visitor markets. To assess the market potential and ensure that the product offering is suitable to meet consumer demands, Fáilte Ireland, in consultation with industry stakeholders, is currently engaged in developing a new strategy for the angling product. The strategy development is nearing completion and will be ready in time to feed into the 2006 angling marketing plans. The new strategy will segment the overseas market better, allowing for more targeted campaigns, highlighting quality angling to consumers that will result in actual bookings.

I am aware of the considerable local interest in acquiring the Owenmore fishery and was pleased to take up the matter on behalf of residents with the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Gallagher. I was disappointed to learn that neither funding nor a grant scheme is available from which either the Department or the South-Western Regional Fisheries Board could consider providing assistance towards purchase of the fishery. The South-Western Regional Fisheries Board is available to provide advice to anyone developing the fishery, including specific fishing beats in the region.

However, I have been informed by my colleague, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív, that, while it is not his Department's policy to make such acquisitions, he understands from Údarás na Gaeltachta that, following representations from the local community and co-operative society, Comharchumann Forbartha an Leith-Triúigh has been invited to submit any development plans that it may have for the Owenmore fishery to an tÚdarás. An tÚdarás has also agreed to provide assistance to enable the preparation of a business plan regarding the purchase and development of the fishery and the sourcing of investment for such a purchase.

Joe O'Toole (Independent)
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I thank the Minister for attending the House to deal with this matter. This is a great opportunity to develop nine or ten months of real tourism benefit for the area, which does not currently have that. It brings tourists in over the hill from Dingle and out from Tralee. It gives great added benefit to hotels in the area. Can that be developed with State aid, apart from those areas that I mentioned? I am not putting the Minister under the cosh. I could have asked another Minister to attend, but I believe that the Minister understands the area better than most; he has spoken to other Ministers. Is he offering any guidance on tourism at this stage, apart from what he has said?

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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Regrettably, there is no budget in my Department that might allow us to invest directly in such a product. There is no precedent for it and nothing in any Vote in my Department's Estimates that would legally allow me to sanction funds for the purchase of the fishery. Unfortunately, that rules out a role of the Department in that aspect. Unquestionably, the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources comes into play through the Central Fisheries Board and the South Western Regional Fisheries Board. They have been known to purchase fisheries, but they say that they do not have the resources to enable them to become involved with this fishery. In any event, they also state that, from their research and investigations, it is for various reasons not a fishery that would be of interest to them.

That leaves us with Údarás na Gaeltachta, since the area concerned is in the Gaeltacht. Therefore, the very best hope of making the acquisition is through Údarás na Gaeltachta, which is, after all, concerned with the development of Gaeltacht regions. I must be honest and say that it has been relatively sympathetic in this respect, as has the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív. I am grateful to him for his interest. It remains to be seen whether an tÚdarás will be able to provide tangible assistance towards acquiring the fishery. However, since all other avenues are closed, it represents the best hope.