asked the Minister for Agriculture whether he is aware of the grave hardship imposed on the islanders on Lough Ree as a result of being deprived of their licences for net fishing; and, if so, whether in view of the fact that fishing is their principal means of livelihood, he will have their case investigated with a view to making an ex gratia payment to the islanders concerned under the Freshwater Fisheries (Prohibition of Netting) Act, 1951, or taking other suitable steps to alleviate their position.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Lough Ree Islanders' Fishing Rights.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he has received applications from Lough Ree fishermen for compensation for the loss of fishing rights; and, if so, what the present position is in the matter.
With your permission, a Chinn Chomhairle, I propose to take Questions 24 and 25 together.
All netting in fresh water was prohibited as from 1st January, 1948, under Section 35 of the Fisheries Act, 1939. In exercise of the powers given to the fishery authority under the Act a bye-law was made permitting the use of nets for the capture of fish other than salmon, trout and eels in Lough Ree during the period 1st October in any year to 31st January next following. Provision is made in the Act and in the Freshwater Fisheries (Prohibition of Netting) Act, 1951, for the payment of compensation on the fulfilment of certain conditions to persons who can prove that they have suffered loss by the prohibition of netting. The Lough Ree fishermen are not eligible for compensation under the conditions prescribed in the Fisheries Act, 1939. A claim has been made on behalf of some of them under the Act of 1951, and on 12th October, 1951, evidence was requested that the claimants were in a position to comply with the conditions governing the payment of compensation as set out in the Act. Such evidence has not yet been furnished, and unless it is received a decision cannot be made as to whether the claims made on behalf of the fishermen are admissible. The fishery authority has no power under the Act to do anything to alleviate the position of the fishermen more than has already been done by the making of the bye-law already referred to.
Is it not a fact that the only thing that has been done is to put them in jail?
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that these fishermen, their fathers and grandfathers, have fished for salmon and trout in Lough Ree for generations, and that, when Section 35 of the 1939 Act was brought into operation, the Electricity Supply Board, took advantage of the fact to prevent these fishermen from getting suitable compensation for the loss that resulted due to the fact that they were prohibited from fishing for salmon and trout. Would the Parliamentary Secretary, therefore, consider amending the legislation to enable the small number of fishermen concerned to resume the means of livelihood they had, and rightly had, up to 1948?
There are two elements in the Deputy's supplementary. I am not prepared to deal with the second. With regard to the deprivation of these fishermen's rights, it is not true to say that the Electricity Supply Board deprived these fishermen of their rights on the coming into operation of the Fisheries Act, 1939. They, in fact, deprived them of these rights quite apart from the Fisheries Act, 1939, and the question is not, therefore, one for my consideration but for the Electricity Supply Board. I have no function in the matter.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary prepared to answer the second portion of my supplementary?
No.
Is the prepared to introduce amending legislation?
That is a separate question.
Legislation cannot be advocated at question time.
With your permission, Sir, I propose to raise this matter on the Adjournment.
The Deputy will be notified with regard to that.
I want to point out that this is a matter in which I have no function. The Electricity Supply Board, as the owners of a several fishery——
There cannot be a several fishery on an inland lake.
——decided in their absolute right—right given to them by the 1938 Shannon Fisheries Act, to do as they have done. I have no power to interfere with them in the matter and I have no function in regard to it.
The Chair will take all the revelant matters into account.
The Parliamentary Secretary is dodging his duties in this respect.
He has no duty in the matter.
There cannot be a several fishery on an inland lake.
It is a several fishery.
Surely the regulations under which the use of nets has been prohibited is a regulation made by the Minister giving control to the Electricity Supply Board and surely it is within the power of the Minister to amend or revoke that regulation.
Does Deputy MacBride appreciate the fact that the Electricity Supply Board prohibited netting on Lough Ree before the Order of 1st January, 1948, came into operation and that the Electricity Supply Board deprived these fishermen of their rights and that any application for compensation should be directed to the Electricity Supply Board? I have no function in the matter.
Surely the Minister could revoke the Order he made.
Deputy MacBride does not accept my statement that the fishermen on Lough Ree were deprived by the Electricity Supply Board of the right to fish. They are the owners of a several fishery in the Shannon and I have no function in the matter.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that the chairman of the Electricity Supply Board publicly stated that he believed the fishermen on Lough Ree were entitled to compensation for the loss of their rights resulting from the Electricity Supply Board prohibition?
Yes, I have been informed of that, but I should like to inform the Deputy that the chairman of the Electricity Supply Board did not say by whom the compensation should be paid.
Item No. 8.
May I ask one question?
The Parliamentary Secretary has said that he has no function in the matter.
Which is quite untrue.
I merely want to ask what was the purpose of the Order made in January, 1948.
The effect of the Order made on 1st January, 1948, is to prevent netting for salmon, trout and eels where a public right of fishery exists. By virtue of the 1938 Shannon Fisheries Act, the fisheries in the Shannon were made a several fishery, in the ownership, control and management of the Electricity Supply Board, and I have no function in relation to the management of a several fishery.
But it was the Minister who made that Order and not the Electricity Supply Board. It is a ministerial Order.
The fishing was stopped by the Electricity Supply Board.
It was stopped by that Order.
It was not—by the Electricity Supply Board.
What is the purpose of the Order then?
The Electricity Supply Board has too much power in this House.
The Parliamentary Secretary is dodging his responsibility so far as the Shannon is concerned.