§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give the public funds expended and the various watercourses and lakes involved to restock such waters after pollution incidents in which fish were killed.
§ Mr. HanleyThere is no legislative provision for the use of public funds for general restocking of waters after pollution incidents. Public funds are used to restock waters only in cases where fish kills result from pollution incidents caused by facilities which are in public ownership. Details of such expenditure over the past five years are shown in the following table.
Location Year Amount £ River Creggan 1987 7,913 River Callan 1987 3,000 Restocking has also been carried out in other cases at the expense of those responsible for pollution incidents in keeping with the "polluter pays" principle.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table showing for each of the last three years for which figures are available the number of pollution incidents which resulted in fish kills in Northern Ireland waters, the waters involved, the fish species and approximate numbers, the action taken to restock, to identify the polluters and to prosecute the polluters and the result of court proceedings.
§ Mr. NeedhamThe information requested is not held centrally. I shall write to the hon. Gentleman in the near future when the details are available.