Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

Yes. The Earl of Bantry and Bantry House estate own all the foreshore, about 60 miles of it, from Sheep's Head. The purchase of the foreshore was critical for any development in the inner harbour at Bantry. Currently, the council is taking sewerage one mile out of the town to be treated, which should have been done years ago. The council had to obtain foreshore rights for that because some of the pipes ran along the foreshore so the harbour board decided to buy foreshore rights. I think I am correct in saying that they went ahead and bought the foreshore rights innocently without prior consultation. They did so in good faith but they bought the rights for €170,000.

This all concerns negotiation and consultation. Two local developers were interested in the foreshore rights for their own purposes. A new hotel has been built and there are plans for a marina development. I attended a meeting and intervened in good faith, as a broker, with one of the developers. I said they were competing against the harbour commissioners to buy the foreshore rights. What they are doing is for the good of Bantry, including harbour development, dredging and extending the pier. We had a heated meeting with the then chairman, who shall remain nameless — he is no longer in the country — and a particular contractor-developer. They paid approximately €170,000 but if it went to a Dutch auction and they were outbidding each other, the harbour commissioners could very well have paid close to €1 million for those foreshore rights. They should have been given for nothing. In 1981, some of the foreshore was given over by the Bantry House estate for £1. The people running Bantry House are very decent people and I felt that should have been the same because the harbour commissioners were doing something good for the town and the surrounding area.

I may be deviating slightly from the issue but had the harbour commissioners gone about it the right way and sought permission from the Minister by way of the Department and under corporate governance and Part V, I am sure there would have been no lack of consent or co-operation by the Department at that stage. I stress the importance of local harbours and local knowledge. The harbour commissioners, the town council and the developer decided not to have a Dutch auction. That bit of ground was worth a lot of money and my worry is that Cork Port will have the benefit of it. The developer stood back and the harbour board bought the ground. If it had gone to a full auction involving auctioneers and bidders outbidding each other, it could have trebled or quadrupled the price that was paid. The harbour board in Bantry was given a slap on the wrist because it did things incorrectly and I accept that. Members of harbour boards are people of different professions and they are not familiar with all the rules, regulations and by-laws. They act in good faith on most occasions.

I have another three or four pages in that communication on the issue. I also wish to put on the record of the House a letter which was written about consultation. The writing is very small and I may need glasses.