Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. It is not the reply I was expecting. That is not a criticism of the Minister of State but a recognition that there are obstacles along the way somewhere. Regardless of those obstacles, I am convinced that the question has to be established and answered as to whether or not the State has the right to go to and from its own property without anybody’s wayleave or say so. If the State has to get permission from somebody else in order to get to its own property, its own house, and similarly for its assigns, whoever they may be, to travel to and from there to use the carpark that has already been used for the last 15 or 20 years, that underscores that the right of way is not enough. It had to be a signed agreement and it was only temporary. However, if it is made permanent, that would resolve the problem and all the other issues fall into space.

I am concerned that we wander off into a whole lot of other alternatives that might happen. We have to concentrate on the one issue, namely, how in many other places throughout the country is the State prevented from going to and from its own property?

The State owns 230 acres of land and the house, which is a very important historical house.

It is an obscenity that the State and its people should be prevented going to and from that property and utilising the amenity that is there and that is already owned by the State.

I appreciate the work the Minister of State has done and his commitment in respect of this matter, but there is little time left in the life of this Dáil in which to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. If an interlocutory injunction has to be sought to prove the State's right, so be it. Let it happen soon, however.

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