59.— (1) Subject to this section, for the purpose of improving any fishery (whether or not the fishery is the property of IFI) IFI may do all or any of the following, namely—

(a) take fish from a fishery by any means whatsoever,

(b) implement any other measure intended to alter or regulate the stock in a fishery of fish of one or more particular species,

(c) keep under surveillance and from time to time ascertain by any means the quality of water in a fishery,

(d) alter, repair, remove or demolish any fence, hedge, tree or wall,

(e) dig, break or otherwise temporarily close, cross, extend, divert or otherwise interfere with or alter any navigable waterway, river, stream or other watercourse, bridge, tunnel, culvert, pipe, drain or other thing, and

(f) notwithstanding section 327 of the Principal Act, take materials from any river, stream or other watercourse,

provided that IFI shall only exercise a power under paragraphs (e) or (f) after consultation with the Commissioners and provided also that in relation to a fence, hedge, tree or wall which is adjacent to a public road or any property of a public authority, IFI shall only exercise a power under this subsection with the consent of the authority concerned, and in case there is a dispute as to whether a particular fence, hedge, tree or wall is adjacent to a public road or any such property, the matter shall be referred by IFI to the Minister to determine, whose decision, after consultation with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government or such other Minister of the Government as he or she considers appropriate, shall be final.

(2) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), IFI shall not, in relation to a several fishery or other thing exercise a power under subsection (1) without the consent of its owner, and for the avoidance of doubt it is declared that in case the owner of the several fishery or other thing is a Minister of the Government, the Commissioners or a public authority, that Minister, the Commissioners or the public authority in giving such consent may attach to it such reasonable conditions as he or she or they think fit, and in addition to the foregoing, IFI shall not enter on or take possession of any fishery or land without giving the occupier of it one month’s previous notice in writing of its intention to do so.

(b) Where, on an application made to him or her by IFI, the Minister is satisfied that the owner of a several fishery or other thing cannot by diligent inquiry be found or ascertained, he or she may issue an authorisation under this section as regards the several fishery or other thing and for so long as an authorisation under this section is in force paragraph (a) shall not apply as regards the several fishery or other thing to which the authorisation relates.

(c) The Minister may at any time withdraw an authorisation under this section either on his or her own motion or on the application of any other person.

(3) Subject to section 65, IFI, or its servants or agents or any contractor employed by IFI or any person employed by such contractor may, with or without vehicles, machinery or other apparatus (including boats or other vessels) or equipment, for the purposes of—

(a) gaining access to the site of fishery improvement works which are completed or which are in the course of being carried out or are to be carried out by IFI, or

(b) gaining access to a fishery (whether or not the fishery is the property of IFI) in order to inspect or maintain it,

enter on land at any reasonable time.

(4) (a) Subject to subsections (1)(b) and (c) and to section 65, IFI may for any purpose mentioned in subsection (3) construct on or over any land a bridge, road or pathway of any description, and when constructed by IFI, use and maintain such bridge, road or pathway.

(b) Before exercising a power to construct under this subsection, IFI shall obtain the consent of the local authority within whose functional area the proposed bridge, road or pathway, or any part thereof, is proposed to be situate.

(c) Where IFI proposes to construct under this subsection a bridge, road or pathway on any land which is in the possession or occupation of the Minister, any other Minister of the Government, the Commissioners or a public authority, before exercising any of its powers in relation to the provision of the bridge, road or pathway, IFI shall first obtain the consent of—

(i) in case the land is in the possession or occupation of a Minister of the Government, that Minister,

(ii) in case the land is in the occupation or possession of the Commissioners, the Office of Public Works, or

(iii) in case the land is in the occupation or possession of a public authority, that authority,

and the requirements of this paragraph are in addition to and not in substitution for the requirements of paragraph (b) of this subsection.

(5) A person entering on land under this section may do on it all things ancillary to or reasonably necessary for the purpose for which the entry is made.

(6) A person authorised under section 20(12) to exercise a power mentioned in subsection (1) shall be furnished by IFI with a certificate of such authorisation and when doing anything under the authorisation shall, if requested by the person affected, produce the certificate to that person.

(7) (a) Nothing in this section shall be construed as conferring on any person a power to enter a dwelling, nor except where there is through the garden or curtilage of a dwelling an ordinary road or passage to a fishery, shall it be construed as conferring on any person a power to enter such a garden or curtilage.

(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed as modifying or otherwise affecting the application of any requirement under the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2006.