Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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1309. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the details of each inspection carried out on a privately operated tailrace at Clohamon on the River Slaney from 1 January to 20 June 2017; the date of each inspection; the authority that carried out each inspection; and if salmon were observed by the inspection team during each inspection, in tabular form [36258/17]

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) adopts a wide-ranging conservation and protection strategy and delivers an associated broad protection programme on the River Slaney system encompassing coastal, estuarine and freshwater (main channel and tributaries) environments.

Protection measures are delivered through the operation of highly trained, skilled and experienced inland fishery protection and surveillance teams, enabled through deployment of state-of-the-art technology and supporting infrastructure, on a 24 hour, 365 day basis.

Many interventions on the River Slaney would include the Clohamon installation, but it is not possible to disaggregate inspections exclusively aimed at this facility as sought. I am advised by IFI that, while much of the Slaney constitutes privately owned fisheries, a total of 3,283 person hours were spent on protection patrolling alone in 2016, which included kayak, foot, bicycle and vehicle patrols on the main channel of the River Slaney and its tributaries. This is the format in which IFI compiles data on its protection services.

However, I would be happy to ask IFI to organise a briefing for the Deputy on the specific issue.