I presume that the Deputy is referring to the decision by the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board to extend the permit charges to cover coarse angling on fisheries that it controls and manages on behalf of the central fisheries boards in the region.
As I informed the House on 5 February 2003, I am advised by the fisheries board that it has had a permit charge for trout angling for many years on the board-controlled fisheries and that the permit income is reinvested in the conservation and day-to-day management of these fisheries.
I understand that the fisheries board, in reviewing its management and the fees charged for its fisheries in 2002, decided to extend the permit charges to cover coarse angling on the board-controlled fisheries, on the basis that it was unfair to charge one angler to fish for one species while another angler fishing for a different species, on the same water, was not charged.
As this is an operational matter, I have asked the chief executive officer of the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board to address the particular queries raised by the Deputy and to reply directly to him in the matter.