Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 178: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he will amend the Control of Fishing for Salmon Order 2005 to provide that a licence holder, when applying for the annual licence, can nominate another person to be authorised and named to operate that licence only in the absence of the licence holder due to their being required as a full-time carer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9560/05]

Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Control of Fishing for Salmon Order 2005, SI No. 72 of 2005, which I signed on 16 February last, authorises the issue of commercial salmon fishing licences by regional fisheries boards and prescribes the criteria under which those licences may be issued. The provisions of this order, which replaces the Control of Fishing for Salmon Order 1980 and subsequent amendments, implement, in as far as possible from a legal perspective, the recommendations made by a joint National Salmon Commission, NSC-National Fisheries Management Executive, NFME, working group aimed at updating and improving the qualifying criteria under which licence applications would be prioritised and assessed by the regional fisheries boards. In this regard, the new order, which was endorsed by the NSC following consultation with the stakeholders whom they represent, reflects best practice in the context of the current management of a licensing system.

The order provides that a licence holder, when applying for the annual licence, can nominate another person to be authorised and named to operate that licence only in the absence of the licence holder due to illness or injury. This provision was a specific recommendation of the joint NSC-NFME working group and, as such, I have no proposals to amend the order further in this regard.

When introducing the Control of Fishing for Salmon Order 2005, I specifically requested that the regional fisheries boards, in implementing the revised licensing regime this year, should report back to me on the operation of the system once the 2005 salmon fishing season has finished. In this context, I intend to keep the Control of Fishing for Salmon Order under review and would be prepared to consider other amendments, aimed at updating and improving the licensing system further, should they be recommended by the regional fisheries boards and the NSC.