asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if his attention has been drawn to resolutions passed by the Limerick City Corporation and the Clare County Council concerning the imprisonment of Mr. Seán O'Carroll of Castleconnell and if, in view of Mr. O'Carroll's age and splendid national record, he will use his good offices to secure his release and suggest to the Electricity Supply Board that Mr. O'Carroll be given a special permission to fish with a rod in the River Shannon or be compensated.
Ceisteanna-Questions. Oral Answers. - Shannon Fishing Regulations.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if his attention has been drawn to the very considerable resentment aroused among the people of Limerick City and County against new regulations made by the E.S.B. forbidding citizens to fish with rod and worm in the River Shannon and, if so, if he will suggest to the E.S.B. that these regulations be relaxed.
I propose with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle to answer Questions No. 8 and No. 9 together.
Under the Shannon Fisheries Acts, 1935, and 1938, the E.S.B. is chargedwith the duties of managing, conducting and preserving the Shannon fisheries and I have no function relating thereto.
With regard to the latter part of Question No. 8, I am informed by the E.S.B. that, subject to conditions laid down by the board, members of the public are allowed to fish in certain stretches of the river adjacent to Limerick and that if he wishes Mr. O'Carroll can avail himself of these facilities.
Does the Minister not consider that, having regard to Mr. O'Carroll's age, to his national record and to the fact that he was a member of the Second Dáil, certain representations should be made to the E.S.B. to secure his release? It does seem outrageous that an old man of 78 with that record should be in Mountjoy Prison.
I am quite certain the E.S.B. will consider any representations made to it. It is, however, an impossible claim for any individual to maintain that he should be allowed to fish at any time at any part of the river irrespective of the regulations the board may make for the preservation of the fisheries.
If the Minister looks further into the question I am sure he will be satisfied that there are special circumstances applicable to Mr. O'Carroll's case. The fact that he was in jail and on the run at certain crucial periods is one of the factors that is probably responsible for the present impasse. Would the Minister not make representations himself to the E.S.B.? He would only be doing what the House would like him to do.
I do not know if Mr. O'Carroll considers that he has any claim for compensation under the provisions of the Act. I know he has made no such claim. My understanding of the position is that the E.S.B. secured an injunction against him and others for fishing in the river in 1937 and that Mr. O'Carroll obeyed that injunction for 16 years, from 1937 to 1953, but that he decided to disobey it this year, and did. I am sure theE.S.B. will be anxious to deal with this matter in any way which does not infringe their authority as custodian of the fisheries.
Would the Minister consider the advisability of making an inquiry into the sanity and common sense of the E.S.B. in the wild machinations they have adopted recently against the fishermen of Limerick whereby these men, paying the E.S.B. for licences and permits, are deprived of their right to fish because of the insane and vexatious measures introduced by them and alleged to be in the interests of the protection of the fisheries? The Minister ought to have it examined.
That is a separate question.
It is a separate question. The issue to which Deputy Keyes is referring is completely separate and distinct from that to which Deputy MacBride has referred. It does not concern the case of Mr. O'Carroll. It is a question of a regulation made by the E.S.B. to prohibit a certain type of fishing. I was not consulted by the E.S.B. about that regulation. I do not know what the justification for it is but I am quite certain that the E.S.B. did not make it without good cause. So far as I am aware the protest against that regulation is supported only by a very small minority of the Limerick Anglers' Association.
Has the Minister any evidence whatever of the common sense attached to the proposal to ban the worm on the Shannon since it can be fished in every other river in Ireland?
I am not in a position to make any judgment on the merits of that contention. I know the E.S.B. have said, by way of information to me which I pass on to the Deputy, that unless they made this regulation the Shannon fisheries would be destroyed.