Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

I do not wish to delay the legislation, but the Minister of State will be aware that, in certain areas, local farmers have foreshore rights to sand, gravel and seaweed. In many cases, those have not been exercised. When application has been made to extinguish foreshore rights, people turn up from God knows where to claim that they had such rights to sand, gravel and seaweed. Perhaps the Minister of State might clarify that this will not change the situation that has pertained. If it is proposed to extinguish a foreshore right, can that be done without paying compensation to those who wish to claim? Will the fact that there is now to be a six-mile extension give them extraordinarily expansive rights that they did not have before, when the foreshore was the line of demarcation between low tide and high tide or whatever the rule was?

Perhaps this is a matter for another Department on another day, but I would like to be clear on this. It has concerned us, especially along the Shannon Estuary, and it is becoming more important in view of efforts to create special areas of conservation around estuaries and so on where people such as landowners claim to have sand, gravel and seaweed rights. How will the change being made here affect what has traditionally happened when it is proposed for any purpose — for example, the building of the power station at Tarbert or that at Killiney — that foreshore rights be extinguished? Compensation had to be paid in the above cases to those who had established rights to sand and gravel through their titles and estate. I am thinking in particular of the ESB case. It was claimed that, since the board could not extinguish the foreshore rights, it could not pay adequate compensation. Will that procedure be changed by this legislation? I do not wish to delay the Bill, which is complex.