Mr. Niall Healy:

We are pleased to attend this afternoon to discuss the issues relating to Fermoy Weir and, in particular, to set out Cork County Council’s commitment to the matter. I am director of services with responsibility for municipal district operations and rural development. I am joined by my colleague, Mr. Kevin Morey, county engineer. I will take the committee through the initial part of this opening statement and then hand over to Mr. Morey to present the latter part of it.

It is important to present the background to Fermoy weir and outline how matters have evolved over the past ten years or so. Starting in December 2009, Fermoy Town Council received notice under section 116 of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959 from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources advising of the need for the town council to undertake immediate repairs to the fish ladder on the weir in Fermoy to reduce the barrier effect of the weir on migratory fish species. Fermoy Town Council engaged with a firm of consulting engineers in 2011 to prepare designs for a rock ramp type structure and the reinstatement of the existing fish pass ladder. However, agreement was not reached with all parties and stakeholders and the proposed works did not proceed. The town council had set aside some limited funding at the time to enable the proposed works to proceed.

Fermoy Weir has proved to be a very contentious issue locally over the past ten years, with many diverse views being offered by local stakeholders on how best to proceed. It is particularly noteworthy that the views of Fermoy Rowing Club differ significantly from the position being adopted by the local angling club, the Department and Inland Fisheries Ireland. Given that agreement was not reached with all parties and stakeholders to proceed with the larger scale works, the town council instead proceeded to Part VIII planning stage in December 2012 to carry out the repairs to the existing fish pass ladder only. However, during the public consultation process, the Inland Fisheries Ireland lodged a submission to the effect that the proposed works would not be sufficient to meet the requirement of the unhindered passage of migrating fish species in accordance with the relevant Act and directives. The elected members resolved in 2013 to modify the Part VIII proposal to allow temporary repairs to take place while the proposal was reconsidered by the council. Such temporary repairs were carried out on the fish pass ladder in 2013.

In 2014, the matter progressed further insofar as Fermoy Town Council, with the support of its consulting engineers, prepared drawings for a fish bypass channel and significant structural repairs to the existing weir which would serve as a more permanent solution to the issue. It was estimated that the proposed works would cost in the region of €2.2 million, inclusive of VAT, which money Fermoy Town Council and Cork County Council articulated they did not have at their disposal. The council consulted the Department and Inland Fisheries Ireland on the preliminary drawings and following a number of meetings, agreement in principle was reached on the nature and scope of the proposed works. The matter of funding, however, remained unresolved. The Department invited Cork County Council to submit a request for capital funding for consideration as part of the national budgetary Estimates process and this request was submitted by the council in November 2015. An indicative timeframe for delivery of the works was also discussed should the necessary funding be secured.

In the meantime, the council committed to pursuing the acquisition of the land required for the construction of the fish bypass channel with the limited financial resources that were available to it. The land acquisition process commenced shortly thereafter and is now substantially complete. Given that the level of progress on securing capital funding was proving to be particularly challenging and having regard for local concerns regarding the ever deteriorating state of the weir, which was becoming apparent, Cork County Council set out to undertake temporary repair works to the weir in 2016. However, issues around planning compliance, the scope of the works and environmental impacts proved to be an impediment to these works advancing.

The council persisted with its efforts to progress the temporary repair works throughout 2017. A series of meetings took place with IFI and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, at which Cork County Council questioned the need for, and associated expenditure with, a fish bypass channel, particularly in the context of the deteriorating state of the weir. It was becoming ever apparent that IFI and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment were not for turning and that their priority was for the unhindered passage of migrating fish species in accordance with the relevant Act and directives. In this regard, the council acknowledges and respects the statutory responsibilities that both IFI and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment must have regard to in determining the overall scope of works that are required.

By early 2018, members of the Fermoy municipal district were growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of both any apparent progress on the matter or budgetary commitment from central government to funding for the capital works. It directed the council's executive to issue direct correspondence to a number of relevant Ministers, Government Departments and State agencies to seek financial assistance as a matter of urgency. The council made contact with five different Departments at ministerial and Secretary General level. These contacts have been outlined in our original submission to the committee and I do not propose to go through the detail here. There was limited progress made but what did become evident from the feedback received was that the responsibility for the provision of capital funding was proving to be very complex and unclear.

During 2018, in an effort to be proactive and prepared for any funding approval that might be received, the council set about preparing tender documents for the procurement of a consultant engineering-led design team for the project. At this time, the council put forward an offer that, should the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment not be in a position to provide full and final assurance regarding the overall capital costs, the council would be willing to fund 50% of the estimated cost of bringing the project to shovel-ready stage, approximately €200,000 inclusive of VAT, on the basis that the remaining 50% of the estimated costs would be funded by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. The council stressed that the works could not progress beyond this point without a commitment to national capital funding support. A key meeting took place in Fermoy on 16 October 2018. Council officials, together with members of the Fermoy municipal district, met the Minister of State, Deputy Kyne, to explore the best approach to expedite works. Representatives from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, IFI and local community stakeholders also attended this meeting. The meeting was followed by direct correspondence from the council to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, on 17 October and 30 November 2018 and the council awaits a response. A positive response was received from the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, by way of letter from the Minister's office dated 12 April 2019 wherein the council was pleased to note:

Under the River Basin Management Plan for Ireland 2018-2021 that the Minister launched in April 2018, this department is providing funding to Inland Fisheries Ireland to examine river barriers nationally in the context of their impact on migratory fish species. This will form the basis of a prioritised restoration programme to be implemented during the period 2022 to 2027. There is a possibility that the Fermoy Weir may fit within this long term programme when priorities are agreed.

The issue around the campaign to save Fermoy weir has emerged as a clear priority for the people of Fermoy, particularly the urgent need for repairs to the now badly eroded weir structure. This has been articulated very forcibly by the elected members of Fermoy municipal district and other public representatives, as well as the statement issued by Save Fermoy Weir in recent weeks. There is a real concern that failure to carry out urgent necessary repairs could result in further significant damage to the already weakened weir structure, thereby resulting in a situation where it may not be possible to safeguard the structure. Representatives from Fermoy municipal district and Cork County Council's senior management met with representatives of Save Fermoy Weir on 13 May 2019. An extensive discussion took place at which both sides openly detailed the challenges that were faced. A meeting note with respect to same has been attached to our original submission. The meeting noted that any works to the weir are complicated by the fact that the weir is a protected structure and the statutory consents that are required, combined with the narrow available timeframe for carrying out works in a river of this nature.

Cork County Council clearly stated that it is not in a position to carry out repair works without the necessary consents being in place. Failure to obtain the necessary consents would leave the council in a situation whereby it would be potentially exposed to legal action. At this stage, I will hand over to Mr. Morey to conclude the presentation of the statement.