Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney. In November 2012, I spoke here on the same issue. I described the situation then as critical and severe. Since then, there have been promises of funding, work and solutions. Yet, all that has been done has been makeshift barriers paid for and constructed by locals in fear of their lives of being swept away.

During the past week, we have had high tides and easterly winds. Social media and online news sites show videos of waves crashing over Clontarf promenade and dramatic seascapes in Dublin Bay last week. What failed to get any attention was the further washing away of the dunes and remnants of the broken boardwalk on the Burrow beach in Portrane. Portrane is near here. It is a lovely part of Fingal, a picturesque part of the Dublin region. There are videos on Facebook showing live and in real time the power of the sea and how close it is getting to homes and businesses in Portrane. If the situation was critical and severe in 2012, it is nothing short of an emergency now.

In 2014, the OPW made funding available for works to protect dunes in the Burrow, Portrane. The then Minister of State, former Deputy Brian Hayes, visited the location to see the destruction of the dunes. I ask the Minister of State to come out next week, if possible. I would love him to see it first hand. It would be helpful to him in coming to some conclusions about it. I am outraged that Fingal County Council did not draw down the funding. Fingal County Council would refer to some confusion on it. I am seeking an urgent meeting with the council next week to discuss its role in finding a way forward.. The residents of the Burrow are annoyed at what they see as a total lack of interest in their plight on the part of the council and the Government.

I ask the Minister of State to take a direct role in protecting the community of the Burrow in Portrane. I want him to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation and allocate a senior official to work with Fingal County Council to install urgent measures to deal with the worsening situation in Portrane. I know of no other community which is so close to being breached and washed away. We cannot continue to bang our heads against the brick walls of Government or local government to find a solution. We need direct action now. Funding must be found to deal with the situation. We have had studies, plans and strategies but no meaningful action.

Residents have filled one tonne bags with sand to provide a barrier. They toiled hard on many mornings to fill these bags, knowing these efforts would be in vain once a serious storm hit the beach and the high tides returned. Those bags have been rendered useless. They were breached last week. The sea has reclaimed dunes and land and there has been no help from the authorities. We need direct action by the Government, and we need it now.

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