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

I thank the Minister of State. The first 30 seconds of the last minute of his contribution were very encouraging, in that he said the tenure and focus of the funding was for diversification of use of the pier. What is more encouraging is the reason the application was not successful is it was for security works, as the Minister of State said. That tells me that if Cork County Council reapplies, it must do so for something entirely different, not just barriers but actual repair works.

I am aware there will be further calls for funding in June and later in the year, which is very encouraging. However, I wish to point out a trend here. I am not sure it is true of all local authorities but certainly with Cork County Council there is a trend towards limiting access to piers and harbours. We spoke about Keelbeg pier in Union Hall where it proposed to install a barrier. There are similar plans for Glandore, which lies over a kilometre across the water from Union Hall. There would not be a barrier but the plans are very much about restricting access to this wonderful facility. The Glandore facility has a yacht club and rowing club, is used by kayakers and has various other uses. Again, however, the county council is taking this risk-averse approach rather than doing what it should do, namely, opening up access to piers and harbours and encouraging people to come down and use the water. It should be putting facilities in place so people can do that. The trend, however, is to move in the opposite direction and cut off access, which is worrying.

To make a final point on the Brexit adjustment funding for local authorities, there must be flexibility as regards the scope of that. The scope specifies shovel-ready projects. There are many projects on the coast of County Cork that may require foreshore licences, for example, at Garinish Island and Bere Island. These projects should be considered, at least as regards applications for foreshore licences, and the scope should not be as tight as it currently is.

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