Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 January 2018
505. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the measures his Department is involved in regarding the maintenance of the weir on the Munster Blackwater, Fermoy, County Cork. [4243/18]
View answerCork County Council is the authority responsible for carrying out and funding works to the weir in Fermoy. I understand that both a project to ensure a permanent solution to fish passage and a project to ensure temporary repairs, while the permanent solution is awaited, are required.
My Department and Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) have been liaising with the Council, on an ongoing basis, to advise how any proposed works can be consistent with fisheries and environmental obligations, particularly the EU Habitats Directive. The engineering advisors of the Council and the Department also agreed the essential details of the permanent proposals and the Department agreed with the Council's temporary repair proposals.
On 6 October 2017, the Council stated its intention to prepare an application to seek approval from An Bord Pleanála for the construction of a new fish bypass channel at the weir in order to comply with its obligations under the EU Habitats Directive.
At a meeting on 29 November 2017 with senior officials of my Department and IFI, the Council confirmed it is involved in land acquisition in respect of its permanent project proposals and a time-line for the commencement and completion of works was requested by my Department.
Funding is entirely a matter for the Council, and funds for this and similar projects are not provided for within my Department's Vote. The Council have been consistently advised of this fact at meetings and in correspondence. They have also been advised that my Department is open to assist and advise from a fisheries and environmental perspective should the Council wish to make a case for a central funding provision to service the requirement for a permanent solution.
Concerns remain about the delay in the required remedial work to be carried out by the Council, and IFI are currently preparing to go to public consultation on a proposed bye-law to limit angling at the weir as a conservation measure. The bye-law will offer some protection for migrating salmon but cannot offer a permanent solution or address the obligation to provide free passage of fish species under the Habitats Directive. I understand that the issues will not be satisfactorily resolved until the required permanent bypass channel and other works are completed by the Council.
