Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not often come into the House and praise the previous Government. I hope I can do likewise for this Government. The former Minister of State, Deputy Michael Finneran, stated in this House: "The ... trust does not appear to be answerable to anybody, is not elected, refuses to discuss the business of the town demesne with any local representative group". That was possibly the first time that the former Minister of State chimed with the people of Castlerea.

In 2005, 1,300 people wrote to the then Minister with responsibility for agriculture asking her to revoke the trust. While she did not do so, she did not appoint any new trustees. This has led to the situation whereby there are now only five trustees remaining. If that number falls below five, it will not be possible to obtain a quorum for a meeting, at which point action will have to be taken. When I heard that an attempt had been made to appoint new trustees, I contacted the Minister whom I thank for taking the time to speak to me on what I know was a busy day for him.

More people have now written to the Minister. I understand some 1,300 people have done so and that there are a further 280 letters on the way to the Minister asking him not to appoint new members to the trust, to let it fall and, if needs be, to use his powers to revoke the trust. When the Minister's officials last visited the trust, they outlined the future of the cow park trust in view of the fact that the main objective of the original trust had now ceased. They also informed it of the 1,300 letters received by the Minister, which had been organised by then Councillor Flanagan, and said that as a public official the Minister could not ignore them.

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