Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Planning permission for this pier is in place since 2008. In 2015 the then Minister for Finance provided €6 million for the construction of the pier. That money was later withdrawn because there was no way of spending it. This has been going on and on. I believe that the funding cannot be asked for until one has the price. I understood that the next step in the process was to get the business plan approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I will give warning here to the Minister, and I am sure the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will indulge me. I made the case about this pier many years ago and got the classic answer that there was a pier on Inis Mór. They are two different islands, so if they come back with that answer do not be fooled.

There is a great pier on Inis Mór but it is no good to anybody on Inis Oírr.

We need to know if that step has been taken because there is no point worrying about the money until the business plan has been approved. Has the Department submitted the business plan? I also support the call for the Minister to visit the island but she should not visit it on a calm day. She should go out there on a rough day when the sea is breaking over the back of the pier and then she will see that it is an absolute threat to life and limb. It is not a question of money; it simply has to be done.

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