Dáil debates

Tuesday, 1 May 2018

6:35 pm

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for taking this matter. The Minister is aware of the issue with Inishmurray Island where the Marine Survey Office under his Department has directed that no licensed craft may land on the island.

This is a very serious matter. As the Minister is not personally familiar with Inishmurray island, I will paint a picture for him. Inishmurray island is the Blasket Islands and Skellig Michael rolled into one. It is the site of a monastic settlement founded by Saint Molaise in 520 AD. People have been landing on the island for 1,500 years. In more modern times, 102 residents lived on the island at the turn of the last century. They raised cattle on the island and brought them to the market on the mainland regularly. They also fished there. For the past 30 years, Inishmurray has been a very important aspect of both the Sligo offering and the Irish offering in terms of tourism. Indeed, if Members who live here in the Pale broadened their horizons and thought a little bit more about what we have up there, then maybe "Star Wars" could have been shot on that island. It certainly has scenery that equals Skellig Michael or the Blasket islands.

The Marine Survey Office, MSO, has unilaterally taken action which will put boat people out of business and inhibit former islanders - members of the Brady and Herrity families who are still alive - and many hundreds of descendants who have a tradition of visiting every single year. The Minister must work on a cross-departmental basis to get an immediate derogation for landing on Inishmurray island until such time as a permanent solution can be identified and put in place. Even if the Minister was to make the money available today to design and build a new pier or whatever the MSO deems necessary, it would be four years before anyone could set foot on the island. I appeal to the Minister to work with everyone involved to get a derogation on landing on Inishmurray island immediately and then to knock heads together to ensure that a more permanent solution is put in place.

6:45 pm

Photo of Tony McLoughlinTony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for dealing with this Topical Issue matter today, which is very serious. Last week the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Griffin, attended a meeting in Sligo on the matter of boats landing on Inishmurray. Representatives of Fáilte Ireland attended, as did boat owners, skippers and families from Inishmurray. Up until 1957 people were living on the island and people have been landing there for hundreds of years. The MSO has done these people a disservice. The monastic site has been mentioned. There is also a graveyard on the island and families go back out to tend the graves of their deceased family members. I understand that it was once more difficult to embark and disembark on Skellig Michael than on Inishmurray. Perhaps if "Star Wars" had visited the latter, we would not be in this situation.

We have an obligation to those skippers who have paid up to €200,000 for their boats. Why would they risk their boats in terms of landing on the island? They have their own insurance for passengers to embark and disembark at Inishmurray. One of the boat owners had 30 groups scheduled to visit Inishmurray during the summer, but unfortunately, due to the inclement weather, only ten of those scheduled visits took place. Would a disclaimer suffice until such time as the island receives funding for proper landing facilities? We need a common-sense approach to resolving this matter. Sligo is part of the Wild Atlantic Way which is being promoted to tourists. Inishmurray is a major hub in north Sligo and it is vitally important that the Minister would ensure that those in the MSO who made this decision reverse it immediately.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this issue which has been raised with me many times by Ms Marie Casserly, a local councillor with whom both Deputies will be familiar. It is important that the Deputies realise that they are not necessarily the first people to bring this subject to my attention.

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I and Deputy McLoughlin have been raising this for the past 16 years.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The Marine Survey Office, MSO is the safety regulator for maritime transport in Ireland, and one of its key responsibilities is to ensure the safety of all passengers travelling by boat. In 2008, officials from the MSO carried out an assessment of the landing facilities at Inishmurray island and deemed the recognised landing on the island to be wholly unsuitable for landing passengers. As a consequence, no passenger licences have been issued which include Inishmurray on their plying limits. It was recommended that no such licences be issued until such time as the appropriate landing facility has been provided. No passenger boat licences have been revoked due to this issue and those passenger boats which have the appropriate licences may approach the island so that passengers may see the island and take photographs. It was brought to the attention of the MSO that certain boats were advertising trips to the island and as such may have been operating outside the terms of their passenger boat licences. As safety regulator, the MSO has a responsibility to ensure the safety of passengers and officials of the MSO contacted the owners of these vessels to remind them of their obligations.

I should make it clear that this issue relates to the issuing of passenger boat licences. A passenger boat is defined in the Merchant Shipping Act 1992 and includes a boat carrying up to 12 passengers for reward or while carrying up to 12 persons to or from their place of work. It would not include persons using a boat by themselves or while carrying friends or family as non-fare paying passengers. Such vessels may be considered to be recreational craft which do not require passenger boat licences but may still be subject to other regulation. The Department recently updated its code of practice on the safe operation of recreational craft.

The solution here is simple, namely, the provision of an appropriately safe landing facility. This is a matter for the owner of the property on which the facility would be built and the appropriate local authority, which in this instance is Sligo County Council. I am mindful of the importance of tourism to the local economy in Sligo and elsewhere. That said, passenger safety is a top priority. Once an appropriate landing facility is provided, officials of the MSO will assess it and any passenger vessel proposing to use it with a view to granting the appropriate licence.

On the basis of the concerns raised about Inishmurray island, the Minister of State at my Department, Deputy Griffin, travelled to Sligo last Tuesday, 24 April, to meet locals and listen to their concerns. As a follow-on from this, the Minister of State agreed to facilitate a meeting as a matter of urgency involving agencies that may be able to deliver a solution which would ultimately enable the MSO to reassess the matter. Obviously, as the MSO is the regulator, it would not be appropriate for that office formally to advise on the matter. I hope that such a meeting will chart a course of action to remedy this issue, address the safety concerns and enable tourism to the island to develop. Deputies will be aware of the fact that this proposed meeting will take place very shortly.

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad the Minister mentioned local councillor, Ms Marie Casserly, but it seems that even she is not capable of getting the Minister, his departmental officials or the MSO to see common sense. The Minister would not be happy if the MSO had any input into Powerscourt, near his home, or the Bog Meadow, which is even closer to his home, and closed amenities, ensuring that owners, not to mention tourists, could not use the facilities. The Department is kicking this out on the never-never. The MSO has been intimidating boat owners, telling them that they will be reported to An Garda Síochána and prosecuted. Are there any brains in the Department at all? People have been going to Inishmurray island for 1,500 years. They raised and sold cattle, fished and supplied food to people on the mainland. Is the Minister so bland that he cannot use leadership and common sense to instruct that office to implement a derogation until such time as a solution is found?

The Minister exemplifies the fact that Ministers are increasingly like presidents of a golf club. They get to stand in for the photograph but they have no say, nor do they want a say, in terms of directing that to which the people are entitled. This is a disgrace. The Minister should not shirk his responsibilities to the people. I hope that his good colleague, Councillor Casserly, has registered the fact that the Minister is choosing to ignore what Deputies McLoughlin, Scanlon, Kenny and I have been demanding, namely, that he stick his head out of the Pale now and again and give people that to which they are entitled.

Photo of Tony McLoughlinTony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The response is typical of the Civil Service. There has never been an accident on Inishmurray. I met the boat owners and skippers who confirmed that there has never been an accident involving passengers embarking or disembarking at Inishmurray. The Minister should check the records or the files to see if there is any report of an accident.

These skippers are acting responsibly. They have invested significant moneys in the boats. People sitting in an office in Dublin have insulted some of these skippers, for example, by saying they will report them. I ask the Minister to check the facts. I suggest the Marine Survey Office check the embarking and disembarking places on Skellig Michael.

6:55 pm

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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People have been killed there.

Photo of Tony McLoughlinTony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I do not want to see any place closed, but the fact is that it is easier to get onto Inishmurray than it is to get onto some of the other islands. I think the people in question should be brought to book. The Minister is responsible for ensuring people in the Marine Survey Office will not start to use a heavy hand in that regard.

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Hear, hear.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for giving me time to respond, certainly to one of the representations. While I acknowledge the difficulties in which people have found themselves, they should be debated in a calmer atmosphere. This is a safety issue, for which there is a remedy. I have spelled it out. Like any responsible politician, I am not prepared to allow people to take risks by bringing fare-paying passengers to places that are deemed to be unsafe, regardless of whether they are islands or tourist spots. The moment it is safe to do so, the relevant authorities will give those involved the go-ahead to resume bringing passengers to the island in order that it can retake its position as a very worthy tourist destination. That is what we are aiming to do. I hope Deputy Marc MacSharry is not annoyed that I mentioned Ms Marie Casserly. She has been presenting the case for Inishmurray in a far more calm and reasoned way than the Deputy has today. I suggest the Deputy would be more effective if he were a little less excitable and a little more reasonable and logical.

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Of course, the Minister has been a sage of reason during the years.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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That would make it easier for me to listen to any-----

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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It is all right for those from Enniskerry because the Minister will look after Powerscourt, while the rest of us can sing for it.

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy knows the rules.

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister can use Government time all he wants to promote his own candidates-----

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am going to move to the next Topical Issue.

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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-----but it is an abuse for him to do so when he should be answering the questions that have been rightfully put to him by Deputy Tony McLoughlin.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy.

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister is a disgrace.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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It is a pity that the Deputy cannot stick to the subject.

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister is a disgrace.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I will consider this matter favourably, despite the Deputy's representations.

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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That is not the Minister's choice as an individual. It is for the people, not me.

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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We will move on. The Minister and the Deputy can go to the back of the Chamber if they want to meet for a discussion. While they are here, we must have some order.