Vol. 244 No. 2
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will give details of his calculation of 18th January, 1970, that it would cost £9 million in compensation to take into public ownership all inland salmon fisheries; and if he will state Government policy on this matter.
40.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will confirm that the sum of £9 million will be sufficient to cover the cost to the State of acquiring the rights of all private inland fisheries.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose taking Questions Nos. 39 and 40 together.
The Deputies will appreciate that, as these fisheries are privately owned precise details are not available to me, it is very difficult to give anything like a reliable estimate of the capital sum required to purchase them.
Such factors as the method of purchase, whether by agreement or compulsorily, the determination of the number of years purchase of the letting value, the extent to which such fisheries are adjuncts to demesne residences, gate lodges et cetera, all have a vital bearing on the purchase price.
It is considered, however, that on the assumption of a purchase price of 20 years of the letting value the total cost would be of the order of £9,000,000.
As to the second part of Deputy Desmond's question I would refer the Deputy to my reply to his question of 23rd October, 1969. I do not consider it opportune to define Government policy on this subject at present pending consideration of the deliberations of the Commission on Inland Fisheries.
Does the Minister concede that in effect by announcing the cost of such compensation he is somewhat pre-empting the deliberations of the commission he is setting up? We are conscious of the rights of the Irish people to their territorial integrity and national assets of land and fisheries. The Minister is well known for his views. As a practical expression of these well-known views perhaps he would now take the initial steps to bring into public ownership these fisheries, many of which are owned by absentee landlords?
I can get as emotional as any other man about taking over fisheries. We have to look at the practical side of the situation. The names of foreign landlords cannot always be attached to the ownership of these particular fishing rights. Many of them have changed hands. They are now owned by a variety of people, particularly a number of our own people who have purchased these rights from whoever may have owned them in the past. It is not simply a question of how much it would take to acquire them, but also a question of how much it would take to operate and preserve them in the best interests of salmon-fishing as a whole. It is this sort of consideration which gives me as much concern as the rather large figure of £9 million. In so far as pre-empting, directing or determining the course of the findings of the commission is concerned, my mention of this figure, not only here but a year or more ago, in broad, loose terms should not be of any significance. I would not think any particular significance should be taken from the fact that I mentioned such a figure or that it would in any way predetermine the minds of the commission whose membership has not yet been completed. Their terms of reference will be wide enough, and loose enough, to enable them to give us the best knowledge and advice they can from wide and far-reaching research on all sides of this very complex problem. Arising from that, we can then really look at the situation in a more factual way. If I should be dealing with this matter when the commission reports the House can take it that I will approach it with an open mind.
