Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I shall first refer to heritage sites. Ireland has some of the finest sites in the world. The marketing of them is not what it should be and we seem to have kept them a secret, especially sites not located on the main thoroughfares. Tourists are dragged around the east and west coasts and down the south to visit attractions but they are unaware that there are fine sites in the midlands.

The core policy of the OPW is the care, maintenance and preservation of the sites. The marketing of the sites is carried out in collaboration with Fáilte Ireland. I hope that in future there will be more collaboration.

A total of €5 million, for example, was invested in Kilmainham Jail in 2016. That will increase visitor numbers from 350,000 to 500,000. That is the type of growth we wish to achieve, and we want to replicate that in other places. The policy does not have to change; it is a matter of making use of existing resources and collaborating with other local authorities and with Fáilte Ireland in order to market sites and make them more vibrant and accessible. There is potential all over the country, including in the midlands where we could set up a wetlands area that would be a unique feature in this country. There are things we can do such as the example outlined. The OPW has an interpretative centre there that could work in collaboration with Longford and Roscommon county councils to create something completely different. It is important to work together. The policy does not change; that is still about the care and maintenance of sites and to ensure they are open, well kept and that we increase the visitor numbers. That is something on which we are working. Visitor numbers are growing. They are up 33% on last year. In my area of east Galway there are fine sites but we are not getting enough visitors. Overall, visitor numbers are up but we must spread them out a bit more.

Deputy Sherlock’s second question related to the Munster Blackwater area. He mentioned insurance and flood defences. What the Taoiseach said is on record, namely, that the temporary defences put up by the Office of Public Works are based on best international standards. The situation is that insurance companies refuse to ensure people but there are options open to the Minister for Finance, including saying companies must insure people, but then one would not have any control over the premium or policy excess. There is no point in saying to someone that he or she will get insurance for his or her home but it will cost €10,000 a year. We must be realistic. We can say to the insurance industry that we want it to insure people but the difficulty under law is that we cannot set the premium. The Department of Finance is looking at other options and they will be brought before the all-party committee.

The CFRAM programme is based on areas where there are villages and towns. Flood issues in rural areas are addressed through minor works that can be carried out by local authorities with funding provided by the Office of Public Works. That work has been taking place in recent years and is ongoing.

Deputy Sherlock also asked a question about Bandon and Skibbereen. I was in Skibbereen two weeks ago. The contract has been signed there and the contractor is mobilising and will be on site within weeks, if he is not already setting up there. I expect the Deputy will see the work commence in July. The letter of acceptance has been sent to the contractor in the case of Bandon and the contract is about to be signed. There are a few issues in terms of the final pieces of paperwork to be submitted to the Office of Public Works, which is the contracting authority in that regard. Between July and August both of those projects will be up and running on site. I am delighted for Deputy Sherlock and the people of Cork that they are going ahead because that is important.

A question was also asked by Deputy Sherlock about timeframes for carrying out projects. In the past four to five weeks in the Department I have examined how we are delivering the flood relief programmes, how the projects are being delivered and the time taken from the inception of a project to getting a contract signed or getting the work started on the ground. It appears that the process is taking an inordinate amount of time, on average, between six and seven years. That is not great comfort for people who have been flooded. We are looking at ways to streamline the process to reduce the timeframe between the project being accepted and the commencement of works. The areas we are looking at are procurement, planning, compliance issues, tendering and how we could reduce the timeframe. I am working on the issue with all the other Departments that are involved. We met yesterday and agreed that it is an issue we will examine because we need to do something about the matter.