Ms Maeve Foreman:

We need balance and variety. As Deputy Ó Broin said, some gardens work really well where they are led by a horticulturist and where training is provided. The garden beside Mud Island is run by the Larkin Unemployed Centre and there is a horticultural course for unemployed men. Having finished that, they can go on to the National Botanic Gardens and undertake further education. The hope is that, beyond that, they will find employment. There are many different models out there. Some are top-heavy with volunteers, while others are top-heavy with trained workers and supporters.

The Greystones-Kilcoole garden, which the Deputy mentioned, is on private land and has been in existence in for the guts of ten years. I understand the people concerned were locked out of the garden with little or no notice. If there had been a commitment on the part of the council to providing growing spaces, that could have been anticipated and, perhaps, they could have been moved to other land. The other garden whose operators have been told their licence will not be renewed is the Growery in Birr. I am not sure whether the committee will be aware of that but it has been in existence for a long time and the garden is very successful. Its operators, too, have been told they will have to move on, in June.