Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

More than the Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts has commented on this. The committee chose to visit Howth, which it is entitled to do, and was shown around by people who have an interest in these properties and are looking to get access to them. The Department had an opportunity on 20 May to respond the committee's draft report on the financial management of the fishery harbour centres. The approach of the committee changed after that response. The Deputy knows some of the people advocating for properties to be made available to them in Howth have a history with the Department in terms of complex tenancy arrangements.

In some cases, rent has not been paid.

We have a responsibility to do a number of things. We have a responsibility to Howth to ensure a proper fisheries harbour is run there and the management of it is professional, well-run and in the interest of the local community. We also have an obligation to ensure we run our fisheries harbours in a commercial manner in order that we can pay for their upkeep and I can invest in places like Howth. We are being asked to invest there all the time and we have made considerable investment in recent years. This matter is not a simple one. There are reasons certain properties have not been made available. The ones that are ready for tenancy are being put out to competitive tender. We will look to get those tenancy arrangements in place in a fair, transparent and competitive way as soon as we can.

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