173. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the status of the independent review of the governance arrangements and operations of Inland Fisheries Ireland committed to on the appointment of a new chief executive; the terms of reference of that review; the expected completion and publication date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56189/26]

In September 2025, I wrote to the Board of Inland Fisheries Ireland regarding the commitment in the Programme for Government that an independent review of IFI should be carried out. In this letter, I indicated that the independent review should be initiated once a new CEO was appointed and embedded in the agency. This sequencing would allow the leadership of the new CEO to contribute to the process and to maximise the effectiveness of the review.

Following an open recruitment process carried out by the Public Appointments Service on behalf of the agency's Board, Dr. Eamonn Kelly was appointed and took up his position on 13 April 2026. It is expected that the review will be initiated during Q3 this year.

In the interim, the Minister has sought and received assurances from the Board that the recommendations of the EY Governance Review of IFI (2023) have been implemented and that the issues reported by the Comptroller and Auditor General in Special Report No. 118 (Governance, Internal Control and Value for Money Issues in Inland Fisheries Ireland) have been fully addressed.