asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will request the E.S.B. not to put the proposed scheme for a salmon lift at the power house, Ardnacrusha, into operation, as it will be detrimental to the fisheries in the Castleconnell area.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - E.S.B. Salmon Lift.
The duties of managing, conducting, and preserving the Shannon Fisheries are vested in the E.S.B. under statute. I have no function in the matter and I am not in a position to intervene. I have, however, been informed by the board that their decision to construct a fish pass at Ardnacrusha was based on considerations of the most effective means of rehabilitating the salmon fisheries of the Shannon system as a whole; that the salmon affected will be those that are at present unable to find adequate spawning facilities in the confined space of river below the site of the power station; and that the area to be opened up and developed will far exceed that in which salmon are at present available.