asked the Minister for Tourism, Fisheries and Forestry if he will make a statement on the proposed review of the regional and central fishery boards which he is undertaking; and when the review will be completed.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Fishery Boards Review.
18.
The Inland Fisheries Trust and the 17 boards of conservators were replaced under the Fisheries Act, 1980, by the Central Fisheries Board and seven Regional Fisheries Boards which were set up on 29 October 1980.
The work of the boards has been kept under constant review by my Department. In addition, the Management Services Unit of the Department of the Public Service have carried out surveys into the administrative staffing of the Central and Regional Fisheries Boards, the structure and staffing levels in the head office of the Central Fisheries Board and the Inland Fisheries Section of my Department.
When the reports of those surveys are finalised, they will form a basis for a review by my Department of assessing the effectiveness of the fisheries boards and the suitability of existing structures. I am not in a position at this stage to state when the review will be completed.
Will the Minister indicate why it was found necessary to have a review of the working of the boards? Is it that the position has not been satisfactory? Will he indicate in what way the boards have been found to be unsatisfactory?
I cannot say they were found to be unsatisfactory. All these matters are under constant review. As I said in my reply, when the reports of the surveys are finalised they will form a basis for a review by my Department of assessing the effectiveness of the fisheries boards and the suitability of existing structures.
Will the Minister accept that when the boards were established it was understood they would play a major part in the development of the inland fisheries system? At the moment they seem to be concerned mainly with acting as bailiffs, as did the old boards, and there does not appear to be the degree of development we would like in the way our inland fisheries are being managed at the moment.
I do not accept what the Deputy has said. There is a certain amount of development in the seven regional fisheries boards and we hope that in the not too distant future definitive plans will be drawn up for the further development of inland fisheries.