Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am absolutely dumbfounded to hear the Minister of State’s comments. I know the material has been provided. It simply is not the case that the area is of low risk and there is no home at risk. That is why it is important for the Minister of State to come out and have a look. I feel as if I am repeating myself from four years ago. The works previously carried out to safeguard the sand dunes on this coast line were done in good faith and with the best intentions but they were not long-term solutions. Comprehensive and possibly cross-departmental approaches are required to provide the best possible protection for this coastline. We need to ensure that all possible solutions are given consideration and that a long-term solution is put in place. A coastal erosion study was carried out, as the Minister of State indicated. Hard and soft engineering solutions were assessed but no meaningful action was taken and no progress has been made. In fact, it is worse than no progress as it seems things have gone backwards. The clock is ticking and the tide is moving in.

I do not know anyone from Burrow who has any faith left in the institutions of the State to protect their homes. The people of Portrane are not only concerned; they are at breaking point. The have witnessed the ongoing erosion of their coastline and can visibly see the dangers they face. They will be appalled at the reply the Minister of State has read out. They do not want their concerns to be dismissed on the basis of negative cost-benefit ratio analysis. The council says that no money has been forthcoming at national level to fund solutions.

I walked Laytown beach lately and could see robust rock-based protective measures in place to deal with what was obviously a similar problem. Therefore, it can be done. Most of us look at weather forecasts to decide which coat to wear or check the times of high tide to go fishing. However, the community in the Burrow, Portrane check these forecast to see if they will have a home the following day, contrary to what the report of the Minster of State claims. Are we going to wait until we are dealing with homes disappearing into the sea before we address this issue? Are we going to allow the situation to develop to a point of catastrophic emergency? I hope not. I hope there is no policy of managed retreat at play. This is a serious matter and it needs urgent attention. This matter must be addressed with the urgency it deserves.

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