Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is familiar with this case through parliamentary questions she has answered. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, have also responded. During the Fianna Fáil Administration, Deputy Eamon Ó Cuív responded to parliamentary questions on it. The story originates in 2003 and has gone on for over a decade. Donegal County Council was charged with dredging the channel at the harbour at Burtonport in 2003. The council ran into difficulties regarding the disposal of the spoil, the dredged material. It reached an agreement with a local family, the Boyle family, to use some of the Boyle lands, comprising a small number of islands adjacent to the harbour, as a solution to the dumping problem in removing the silt. It was agreed to use the rock contained on the small islands owned by the Boyle family as a bund and to store the dredged material within the bunded area. The result from the point of view of the council is a saving of over €500,000. I have access to letters from council officials to this effect. That was the value of the quarried rock at the time.

The result of this work was a new plot of land consisting of Mr. Boyle's original islands and the new reclaimed foreshore. The agreement with the family was that the new piece of land, the reclaimed foreshore, and the original land owned by the family would be transferred to him by the council as part of the original agreement. The intention of the family was to build commercial, community and retail units and a marina that would create dozens of jobs and kick-start the local economy, not to mention bringing in taxes to the local exchequer and rates to Donegal County Council. Part of the agreement was that the Boyle family would transfer to the council part of the land to assist the council with car parking. What has happened in the past ten years? The harbour has been dredged, the infill has happened and the rock owned by the Boyle family was used by Donegal County Council, saving the council over €500,000. However, the transfer never took place because it was caught up in some legal wrangle, according to answers to parliamentary questions from Deputy Coveney, Deputy Hogan and Deputy Ó Cuív. It is now over four years since Donegal County Council paid €130,000 as the agreed fee for the transfer of the foreshore licence. The Boyle family was chosen as the preferred partner to develop the marina project and a grant of €465,000 was allocated for the project. Unfortunately, the grant was lost and it is claimed it was lost because of the delays in the project. As entrepreneurs, the Boyle family have come up with another proposal to develop the area to enhance it in respect of tourism. This is all dependent on the transfer of the foreshore licence.

I ask the Minister of State to outline why agreement was reached between the local authority, the State and the family. The family lived up to its agreement and there was a huge benefit to Donegal County Council. However, 11 years on, the State has not lived up to its part of the agreement. How are we supposed to create employment? I invite the Minister of State to visit Burtonport and see what was once a thriving fishing community on its knees. When local people come up with initiatives and want to create employment and enhance the community, red tape at official level stalls the process. How has it taken 11 years when a foreshore licence agreement has not been implemented, despite the fee having been paid over four years ago by the local authority?

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