Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Most harbours and piers are owned by a local authority. What about public piers and slipways that are not? Some of these are damaged and are important for local use. I know Galway’s local authority has submitted non-local authority infrastructure that is public for repair. Will these be considered?

I accept the Department’s remit covers fisheries. Some small piers are used by traditional and recreational boats which still create an economic return. Will the Department omit these from consideration? There are many small seawalls and sluices all around the coast, some of them built by the Congested Districts Board, which were very effective but have been damaged and need to be replaced. Is the OPW or the Department responsible for these? I can see months of turf wars going on over these cheap but important infrastructures. There is one at Clooncullaun that has been damaged. The one at Ballyconneely collapsed and, as a result, it caused the flooding of a house that would never have flooded otherwise. The sea defences for the airstrip at Inis Meáin have been destroyed, which could result in the airstrip becoming unusable if the tide breaches the runway. How do we mediate the disputes that will arise between the various agencies passing the ball on these kinds of works?

I welcome the extra funding of €8.8 million. Of course, the next question is the logistics of spending the money. I presume that some of the work is so big that it will be necessary to go to design stage and then to tender stage. In those cases the Department will be lucky to spend any money this year. No matter what promise I am given here today, I would be very sceptical that much of the money that is going into design and tender will actually be spent this year.

However, a large number of piers and harbours have been damaged where less work involved, and it is more a matter of putting back what was there and repairing them. As we all know, if a few boulders come out of a pier, particularly some of the older stone piers, it is like when a geansaí or jersey starts to rip in that if nothing is done about it very quickly, the pier will become vulnerable to any kind of adverse weather. Will permission be given to the local authorities to take a shortcut version to getting repairs done, in other words, emergency works? Will that all be direct labour or will the local authorities be able to hire on a quick system, in other words, get the person in on the job to actually begin the repairs quickly? Otherwise, we can throw all the money we want on the table but we will not see anything before next Christmas.

I am worried about the issue of co-funding, even at a rate of 10%. It would be fair to say Donegal nearly went to the wire over its estimates this year and the council nearly got replaced. The question is what happens if a local authority comes and says to the Department that it will not put up the 10% and it is not going to do the work, even though that work needs to be done. We could get into the type of turf war that can happen in regard to co-funding. Is there an obligation on the local authorities to come up with the funding, and where are they meant to get the money for co-funding? My understanding is that the only source of their own funds, if one could call them their own funds, is a grant from the local property tax and the raising of rates, but that is not elastic and they have no control over either. What happens if they eyeball the Department and say they do not have the co-funding?

I welcome the inclusion of the Gun Rock Beacon on Inishbofin. I have photographs which show it is totally destroyed. It is in probably one of the most beautiful villages in Ireland and I welcome that it is on the list.