Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Broughan for raising the matter. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, conveys his regret at being unable to attend the House personally today, but he has a number of important issues to which he must attend.

Howth is one of six fishery harbour centres operated by the State, each of whose primary purpose is to provide facilities and services for the fishing industry and fisheries-related activities. The introduction of parking charges at Howth fishery harbour centre was originally examined some years ago in the context of a proposed Howth traffic and parking management plan, in conjunction with Fingal County Council. The project did not subsequently proceed. However, it is generally acknowledged that traffic and parking management within the fishery harbour centre itself needs to be addressed, particularly in the light of concerns raised about safety and emergency access by the Coast Guard, the lifeboat service, and An Garda Síochána. The introduction of pay parking is one of a number of measures being introduced to address those concerns.

Howth fishery harbour centre is first and foremost a working fishery harbour. As such, full access is required for commercial traffic servicing the fishing side and the various ancillary enterprises, with appropriate parking arrangements. Other harbour users such as the yacht club and other social users also require reasonable access to parking facilities. A significant number of parking spaces in the fishery harbour is currently being taken up by commuters using the DART service during the working week, when the DART station car park is full. It is essential that the needs of all users are accommodated in a safe and secure facility.

There has been significant capital investment in the fishery harbour centres in recent years. In parallel with fishing-related enhancements, there have been a number of developments at the fishery harbours that underpin their expanding use for leisure and marine tourism, as well as other maritime enterprises. Howth, in particular, has a long tradition in these areas as well as in commercial fishing.

As a consequence of the additional investment, the State is necessarily fully committed to maximising the return on its investment. Furthermore, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is required to ensure that the fishery harbour centres are run on a financially sound basis. It is in those contexts that it is proposed to make a charge for the use of parking facilities provided within Howth fishery harbour centre, in the same way that a charge is made for using any of its other facilities.

All income generated by the fishery harbour centres goes back into a ring-fenced fishery harbour centres fund that is used exclusively for the operating, management and development costs of the fishery harbours. At this point I will explain the background to the funding mechanism involved in the day to day management of the six fishery harbour centres for the information of the House.

The Fishery Harbour Centres Act 1968, as amended, sets out the mechanism to be employed in funding the day to day operational costs of the six fishery harbour centres. All income received at each of the six fishery harbour centres is effectively lodged to what is known as the fishery harbour centres fund. All of the day-to-day running costs of each fishery harbour centre are financed from the fishery harbour centres fund and it is the only source of income available to fund the day to day operation and management of the fishery harbour centres. This expenditure includes, for example, harbour master and staff salaries, electricity and fuel costs, harbour cleaning, maintenance and so forth, without which the fishery harbour centres could not function and certainly could not provide a service to their customers, the harbour users and the visiting public. It is important to reiterate that all income lodged to the fishery harbour centres fund is invested directly back into the fishery harbour centres and is used for no other purpose.

The rates and charges order is the legal instrument that enables charges to be levied that provide the income necessary for the provision of the various services at the fishery harbours. It is important that the rates and charges are set at a level sufficient to provide adequately for the costs involved. At the same time, it is necessary to balance the need to finance the management of the harbours with the needs of the various harbour customers. The current rates and charges order, S.I. 214/2012, provides for a charge for parking but no set charge has yet been fixed for Howth. Given that there are approximately 500 parking spaces within the fishery harbour centre boundaries at present, it is clear that a significant source of revenue exists. It is illogical that harbour users would expect to continue to use such a facility free of charge given that the State is required to maintain that facility, and when only some users, that is other users of the harbour who are paying into the fishery harbour centres fund, are effectively paying for it. The Department is currently drafting a scheme for the new parking regime that will seek to be fair to all of the users of the harbour while at the same time ensuring that everybody pays their fair share. No details on timing or the level of charges have been determined at this stage.

The new parking arrangements will include pay and display parking for visitors and a permit management system for the harbour's business users. Regular harbour users will have noticed that all currently available parking spaces have been identified and marked recently. No additional spaces over and above those already available have been created, although it is expected that the addition of marked parking bays in some areas, where no spaces were marked up to now and parking was somewhat ad hoc, may lead to a small increase in the overall numbers of spaces available. The proposed new pay and display system will require the deployment of a number of pay machines at appropriate intervals around the harbour. The specification for those machines will of course address the potential environmental and visual impacts of the machines and of any associated directional signage. The Department has asked the planning department of Fingal County Council for guidance on its requirements in that regard and will be pleased to take account of any requirements and recommendations it may have.

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