Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this topic for debate as it is of vital importance to the 125 residents of Oileán Chléire - Cape Clear island - in going about their daily work. There is a huge problem in that the Bull's Nose pier at Trá Ciarán in the north harbour has been battered by the sea since it was built during the Famine. It is in danger of collapsing and blocking the harbour to all navigation, thereby closing this gateway for the 125 residents and almost 120,000 visitors who visit the island every year. If the phrase "a stich in time saves nine" was ever applicable, it is in this case. The pier is in urgent need of remedial works, as it is the gateway for an industrious and hardworking population who, since the 4th century, have made mammoth efforts to combat their remoteness eight miles into the Atlantic - Ireland's msot southerly point.

I thank the Minister for his attendance. I know he has a comprehensive interest in and deep knowledge of marine and maritime affairs and is very familiar with this pier. The problem is that if this pier, one of three in the north harbour, collapses, it will totally block access to the other two piers and effectively close the island to the outside world. The pier acts as a breakwater for the rest of the harbour and has already been deemed to be unsafe since the late 1990s, when severe and deep cracks appeared in the concrete capping on the original pier in the 1920s. Berthing at the pier has been prohibited for some time.

The pier which is only 20 m in length has four major cracks which run the length of the pier and has been the subject of different studies and reports since 1997. In fact, I was informed only this morning that further studies were being carried out by UCC to examine the swell and wave heights at the pier. There is a tidal difference of at least 3 m at the harbour walls. While I accept these studies have to be carried out, it is 14 years since the first one began. Efforts were made to patch the pier at the turn of the century by pouring concrete into the cracks, but this work was immediately stopped when the concrete, unfortunately, ran straight into the sea.

The people of Oileán Chléire desperately need decisive action to be taken to secure the pier for the foreseeable future by the completion of the studies and the putting in place of a plan to conclude the work required. I note that yesterday the Government launched its website to prepare the population for possible severe winter weather. If this pier was to collapse at this time of the year, it might well be May or June of the following year before construction equipment or materials could be brought onto the island to undertake the necessary repair work.

There has been significant investment on our islands in recent years. They are one of our greatest resources. Off the west Cork coast there are seven inhabited islands, each of which has massive tourism potential and a resilient and hard-working native population that fights in challenging times to maintain the island way of life. I compliment the work of Cork County Council, through the county development board, which has focused as a priority on these island off the west Cork coast in recent years and adopted an inter-agency islands strategy to deal with the problems they face. I earnestly ask the Minister to support this issue on Oileán Chléire and to help to resolve this engineering issue, which is a terrifying prospect for local people.

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