Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I thank the witnesses for attending the meeting. I am delighted to be speaking to them now that the lands at Castletown House have been bought. There has been a huge issue with the estate since it first went on sale. It was 14 July 2022 when I first heard it was to become a public amenity. It took a while to get here but the lands were reunified last week and that has had a huge impact on our community in Leixlip, Celbridge and the rest of north Kildare. I was a councillor until last year for the Leixlip-Celbridge area and I have met a number of the witnesses in that capacity. A huge amount of work was done from a community perspective. I thank the people in the community for their forbearance through everything that happened. People had become used to being able to access the estate in recent years. It was a second home to many during the Covid restrictions. I had my wedding photographs taken there and my children have been brought there in the buggy since they were tiny. We continued to go there until the past couple of years, when access via the M4 was restricted. This was very personal to me and to everybody in our community.

There is huge joy and relief in our area that we have access back to Castletown House, and just as important, that the lands are now reunified, which is a very significant step. It was one thing to get the access we required but for the lands to be purchased and a holistic solution found is incredible for the area. I want to acknowledge that. As well as thanking the community, I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, for his work over the past year. Since I became a TD, I have met with him, and cornered him, many times to discuss this. I have also met with Mr. Conlon a number of times and I thank him for his work. I first met Ms Collier two or three years ago in the bottom room in Castletown House. I thank her for her work on this. I also thank her colleagues Katie Morrisroe and Samir Eldin, who have worked on this over recent years. I am very conscious of their efforts and I am sure they are delighted the matter has been resolved. I thank all involved in the OPW.

We will have to look now to a plan for the lands. There are 462 acres at Castletown and, in addition, the lands at Donaghcumper have been bought in conjunction with Kildare County Council. When does the OPW expect there to be access to the back lands at the M4 exit?