My colleague Deputy Lawless and others have been in touch with me in relation to this issue and Deputy Durkan raised it last week on the Order of Business. The OPW is very conscious of the desirability or importance of reuniting the historic demesne and acquiring those additional lands. One always has to be careful, if such a potential acquisition is on the cards, that public debate on it does not create a favourable position for one party to the negotiations. Apart from that, the refusal of access to the public is very worrying and unacceptable. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, met with all of the Oireachtas representatives for Kildare North and also met community representatives from Celbridge on 10 October. The community council subsequently issued a press release saying that it was now fair, reasonable and appropriate to scale back the protests to allow unhindered vehicular access to staff. We are engaging with this and will continue our engagement on it.

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