In the first instance I wish to note our disappointment with the way in which the Order of Business was conducted yesterday. Many Senators were not able to contribute as a result of the Punch and Judy politics in which some were engaging. We wanted to support some of the points that were made but could not do so. The leaders of the various groups must take their people aside and talk to them in order to ensure that there will be no recurrence.

Does the Senator have a question for the Leader?

What happened yesterday does not reflect well on the House at all.

I refer to a serious matter which was raised yesterday by the Immigrant Council of Ireland, namely, the ban on political canvassing in direct provision centres. This ban, which was introduced by the Reception and Integration Agency, RIA, prevents residents who have a right to vote in the local elections from making informed decisions. It is an absolute disgrace. We are already denying the people of many of their other democratic rights but the right to vote is one of the few they have. The RIA has directed that no one connected with the political parties, etc., is allowed to speak to residents at the centres. The Immigrant Council of Ireland has stated that "canvassing is an opportunity to inform residents, who in many cases have limited or no access to the web and other media, to find out what each candidate stands for. For some asylum seekers the local poll could be their first opportunity to take part in fair and free elections". This matter must be addressed immediately by the Ministers for the Environment, Community and Local Government and Justice and Equality, who have responsibility for elections and the RIA, respectively.

Will the Leader also raise with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans for the Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2014, Second Stage of which was agreed in the Dáil? Will he seek to discover when the Bill is going to be progressed through the Lower House in order that it might be brought before us? Perhaps we might engage in a debate on the Green Paper on Energy Policy in Ireland while we are awaiting the Bill, particularly as we are all concerned about the issues involved. The Wind Turbine Regulation Bill, if passed, would prevent any questionable developments from being progressed in the interim.

I support what Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh said in respect of asylum seekers and the ban on their being canvassed by the political parties. In many parts of the country local election candidates of all persuasions have organised meetings outside direct provision centres and these have proven to be very successful. The ban is unacceptable, however. In the previous local elections in 2009, certain candidates were granted access to the centres. That is all I will say on the matter for now.

I wish to bring to the attention of the House an issue that has been raised with me in recent days by the snap net fishermen who operate on the River Suir. For those who may not know, snap net fishermen work in teams of four on small boats approximately 18 ft long and known as cots. There are usually two fishermen per cot and they spread a net across the river, generally on the tide, between two cots. They only fish during certain months. This year, however, Inland Fisheries Ireland, IFI, has prevented fishing on the River Suir because it states that the numbers of fish counted in previous years were so low. According to the snap net fishermen to whom I refer, the IFI has agreed with them that the counts of salmon on the River Suir were actually inaccurate. I am of the view, therefore, that the fishermen cannot be prevented from operating on the basis of such counts. This issue has been ongoing for some years but matters have come to a head this year because the fishermen have been completely banned from the river. The tradition of snap net fishing dates back more than 1,000 years. It is no longer a commercial enterprise. Rather, those involved are merely maintaining the tradition to which I refer on the Suir and also on the River Nore and the River Barrow. I request that the Leader invite the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, who has responsibility for inland fisheries, to come before the House for a debate on this matter in order that we might obtain some degree of clarity.

We cannot allow men to be prevented from engaging in fishing based on the provision of inaccurate information.