Joe O'Toole (Independent)

Just as one comes over Conor Pass, with one's back to Dingle, one can look down over the beautiful valley ahead. On a good day it is possible to see all the way to Galway and on a bad day one can even see Kerry Head. Looking behind one can see the Minister's part of the world and just below that is a beautiful river and a set of lakes. In fact, there are nine lakes and six miles of river along the whole valley. Clahane and the area around the river has a population of approximately 300 people.

The Minister will find the history of the area evocative also. This land should be expropriated by the State. It was owned by the State but, unfortunately, the Land Commission sold it for £1,000 in 1928 and gave it back to Captain Paget at the time. It moved through the family of Lord Harrington and the Earl of Harrington and was bought by a Luxembourg family in the past 20 years. That beautiful area is now for sale. The fishing rights for the six miles of river and the eight lakes are available now for approximately €2.5 million. It is a huge amount of money but as the Minister and I know, this is a community where there is no investment or development. There is no possibility of a factory being built or the development of new undertakings. The development of the angling industry in this area would bring with it various concomitant extras such as gillying, accommodation and food outlets. This is an eco-friendly issue but it is also about community development. I am aware the Minister has taken a strong hand in trying to encourage the South-Western Regional Fisheries Board to take an interest in this. I understand it is prepared to take a decision in principle to support it, and I also understand that Údarás na Gaeltachta is prepared to consider an investment therein.

I ask the Minister to give ministerial support for the idea of a public private partnership. This is not a case of looking for money for nothing. A solid business plan has been drawn up, which I understand has been sent to the Minister's office, outlining how this can work as a viable industry that will give new life to the area and hope to the people living in the area. It will allow a very eco-friendly business to develop. The area was given an EU award in recent years as a special place of natural beauty.

We must not allow this land to fall back into private hands again. I ask that we facilitate its being given back to the people by way of some of the organs of State investing in it. It is an asset which the State can sell on or whatever in the future. In the meantime, local people in that small community have given a commitment to invest €500,000, and I understand there is a possibility of that figure increasing. It is also my understanding that banks are prepared to come up with a certain amount of money after that. There are four ways this can be approached, therefore — through the banks, the local people, Údarás na Gaeltachta and the fisheries board. In terms of the Department examining this issue, is it possible to develop the sport of angling in that area, which needs an investment also?

As a former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I remind the Minister that this is one of the few areas where fishing can be made accessible to people with mobility problems. It is a flat, easily accessible area. There is a road running alongside the river and much can be done in that area.

I hope to get a positive response from the Minister. I did not come into the House tonight expecting him to write a cheque but I would like him to use his influence with his Cabinet colleagues and in other areas to make this happen.