Ms Sinéad McSherry:

To be frank, this Department does not own those piers and harbours and it would be remiss of me to suggest that we would engage in an audit of them. What we do respond to on an annual basis are the requests from the local authorities. The Deputy mentioned specifically cranes, lifts and ladders. They are things that we fund. When we go out with the scheme on an annual basis, the local authorities have done their assessments and made the prioritisations, and they submit their projects in a prioritised fashion. Then, we allocate the funding that is available to us. We are not guaranteed funding every year. We are not guaranteed the same level of funding every year. However, we are in a position to aid those local authorities. The prioritisation and identification of those needs are a matter for the local authority. Sometimes we are in a position. Mr. Sweeney spoke to the BALAMI scheme and Donegal. Donegal was obviously very badly impacted by Brexit. However, we were able to assist Donegal and fund them to the tune of €25 million over two years. That has made a significant impact on those piers and harbours there, but we do not have that opportunity of the Brexit adjustment reserve fund every year.

I will ask Mr. Clancy to take the Deputy through the dredging challenge.