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

I welcome the Minister of State's final comments, although I was aware of the earlier issues mentioned. My colleague in the local authority, Councillor Marie Therese Gallagher, has been pursuing the issue at a local level with the local authority for many years. I should reiterate that this started in 2003; we have had a boom and bust since then, along with a banking expansion and collapse. We also had the imposition of a troika agreement, which we have since exited. Banks have been nationalised and liquidated. We have had all of these issues, which I am sure are more complex than fulfilling a legal agreement between a local authority and a person who wants to create jobs in an area of significant deprivation.

I have dealt with four Ministers on this issue and I have spoken with the Office of the Chief State Solicitor. It is simply not acceptable that 11 years later the best legal brains in the country cannot come up with a solution or draw a line under this project one way or another. How can it take years for the Chief State Solicitor or the Attorney General to give advice on the issue? My view is that because the project is located in Burtonport, it is not a priority. There is no way legal teams are sitting around in the offices of the Chief State Solicitor or the Attorney General with the Burtonport file day in and day out; it is simply not happening. The issue is at the bottom of a pile because it has not been prioritised. It should be prioritised, as this is about creating jobs, but it is also a breach of an agreement which was of significant benefit to the State. The Boyle family have been penalised and have lost nearly €500,000 in grant aid to build a marina that would have been successful at the time. Yet they have not sat back; they have decided to look at a tourism-oriented caravan project that will bring people to an area in west Donegal to experience the rich culture and beauty of the area, with Arranmore and other islands just off Burtonport. That would bring some tourism potential to an area that is screaming out for it.

I appreciate the Minister of State's final comments, but something must be done. A Minister must see that enough is enough, as this family has been treated shabbily for one reason or another. It should not have taken 11 years for this to be dealt with, so a deadline should be set so that the issue can be resolved.

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