Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I stress again the importance of expediting and streamlining the scheme and getting it right. However, I welcome the interim measures the Minister of State outlined. I also stress that we are having more frequent and severe weather events. Our coastline is being battered, as the Minister of State knows well, being from Waterford. It is not just towns being flooded. Piers are being washed away and coastal walkways are collapsing into the sea because of these more frequent weather events. We do not have a strategy or fund in place to protect these areas of coastline. A perfect example of this is the well-known O'Sullivan walkway in Adrigole on the Beara Peninsula. It is part of the Beara trails. The walkway is essentially collapsing into the sea due to these frequent, severe weather events. What we need is a fund to protect such amenities in the future. I would like the Minister of State to bring that point back to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath.

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