Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Part of that €65 million was roads, public lighting, etc. Of the €65 million, roads accounted for €20 million, coastal damage €35 million and tourism projects €10 million. Those are the broad headings from the initial assessment. I was in Sligo recently looking at the coastal erosion caused. Whole beaches were removed by the storm. We must take a holistic approach to this. In some cases the engineers tell me a beach or a whole sand dune moves from one area to another, but over a period of years it comes back again. This is a rapidly changing area. The key responsibility we have is identifying the key public infrastructure that must be protected. These things will happen again.

Despite the level of funding which has come up in recent years, we have not put in the funding in the way other small countries with similar coastlines have done. We need to ramp up public expenditure and capital funding in this area. Our priorities are people, homes and businesses. While sand dunes are important, especially where there is rock armoury in place, we must prioritise those projects which can give maximum benefit. This is a very difficult issue for coastal communities where whole stretches of beach and coastal areas have been affected, but our key priorities must be people, homes and businesses, and we will continue with that.