I propose to take Questions Nos. 455 and 456 together.
The legislative code governing inland fisheries is contained in 13 separate Acts which date back to 1959 and there is a need at this stage for consolidation and modernisation of the code. My Department, working closely with Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), is finalising a wide-ranging and comprehensive review of the existing legislation with a view to introducing Heads of a new Inland Fisheries Bill as soon as possible.
This is an important issue and I have organised a number of public meetings to which the public and fisheries interests were invited. In addition, I arranged a briefing on these issues for members of the Oireachtas on 27 November last to update on the progress of the review and outline the issues under consideration.
Matters such as invasive species and conservation, which were not in play when the 1959 legislation was enacted, have already been considered as part of the development of the legislative proposals currently under consideration.
One of the issues that we have also sought to address as part of consultation is how funding could be mobilised for the development of the sector. There are a range of views on this issue and my consistent view is that a funding instrument will only work with broad support across the angling sector and equally must not be a source of division between representative associations.
In response to some inferences that a discussion document relating to the funding issue was a proposal to introduce a "rod licence", I have already made it absolutely clear that no such proposal was made by me or my Department, nor is it intended to introduce such a licence.
I have undertaken to have further stakeholder engagement and will not finalise any of the legislative proposals before this is concluded.
To this end, the main angling bodies met with officials from the Department and with officials and board members from IFI in late December. The angling bodies themselves have agreed to meet later this month to discuss issues they would like to see addressed in new legislation including funding opportunities.
Thereafter, I propose to host a representative workshop to facilitate the formulation of proposals to secure the future development of the resource.
The priority is to seek the broadest consensus possible. There is a unique opportunity for the angling community to work as a unified group to finally secure the long term viability of the resource into the future. I am keen to ensure that any proposal for the funding of the sector has the broadest possible buy-in from the angling community.
I am keenly aware that not all anglers are members of clubs or federations and would urge all Deputies to encourage such anglers in their areas to participate in the further round of consultative meetings.
