Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

I understand the comments of the Minister of State, Deputy Ahern, and I am glad of his response. However, it is like the tale, The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Eventually people are asleep when the wolf comes and then the sheep are gone. The Minister of State referred in his response to the 1999 report, A Review of State Regional Ports and Harbours, also known as the KPMG report. There was another report, namely, the Baxter Eadie study, which specifically mentions the harbours at Cork and Bantry. I do not doubt these reports were produced. The Minister of State maintains these reports refer to maximising the potential of Bantry. I do not doubt the veracity of his comments on consultation.

I do not mean to be jocose but let us consider a sporting phenomenon, for example, the County Carlow hurling team. It aspires to win the All-Ireland hurling final, but the reality is different. This is why I refer to the matter of consultation. This has been ongoing for 40 years and nothing has happened. I do not care who was in Government, whether it was Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party, the Green Party or whoever.

Before his assassination, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of his dream. Perhaps, the President-elect of the USA will now realise that dream. There has been a dream in Bantry for 40 years. We suffered devastating commercial, financial and human loss following the disaster in 1979. Everyone came together and agreed what would be done. Two changes were requested ad nauseam in Bantry, namely, the extension of the pier and dredging, neither of which happened. The Minister of State asks us to accept another layer of enabling bureaucracy. I do not trust any enabling legislation, and I have historical reasons for this position. When the Whiddy Island disaster occurred, a first cousin of mine and two of my school classmates died in the tragedy. Two family members were working that night and I went in the middle of the night to see if they were okay. We can never forget those events. People fled from the island. The commercial devastation, the loss of jobs and the pall that hung over Bantry and the surrounding area for days, weeks and months afterward was appalling.

There followed the famous package, which is the reason I refer to the matter of consultation. The former Tánaiste, Mr. Dick Spring, and several others arrived in the West Lodge Hotel, Bantry, in 1985, or perhaps 1986. The Bantry package, including money provided to Bantry, was announced. Some of it was allocated to sports and other matters that had nothing to do with the people in Bantry, especially those who lost their jobs such as the tug men, the fishermen, and the local 70 or 80 men with families to support. What did they get from the package? This is why I refer to the lack of consultation. Earlier, I referred to commitments to spend €1 million or €2 million. Two simple measures were promised for Bantry — I attended the press conference in 1986 — and I am not having a cut at Mr. Dick Spring as that was the political decision on the matter and he was in Government at the time. I praised the former Deputy, Mr. Peter Barry, for his efforts. However, those commitments were not honoured.

There may be a consultation process, but Cork County Council wants nothing to do with us because there is a plan to extend the pier, so that a person from Whiddy Island with access rights to access the town can travel in all tides. There have been several tragedies in the inner harbour. People close to my heart were lost there. We set up an inshore rescue boat with local fund-raising and with little help from the Government or other sources. One man's boat capsized, he swam many hours and, unfortunately, could not climb the wall. I could name 20 young men who were lost at Whiddy Island. These were tragedies. However, I can see those remaining on the island still go to mass on Sunday morning or come and go from the town. I know of one man born there and he was so in love with the island that he returned there with his young children. They are great little hurlers. Mr. Mark Foley trains the young lads in Bantry. They play sports and must come and go several times each week. However, at certain times, depending on the tides, they cannot land at the pier. I will read the whole report from Mr. Justice Declan Costello, maybe not today put perhaps the next time. This paper in my hands is only an extract from it. The report runs to 400 pages with comments on Bantry, Whiddy Island and so on.

I do not trust the assertion that this is enabling legislation and that there will be consultation after the event. I maintain consultation should take place now. Why was there not consultation previously? If the messages and the yearnings of the people of Bantry and the surrounding area was listened to back in the 1980s, the pier could have been upgraded and the dredging carried out for possibly less than £1 million.

I arranged for Ministers to visit the area and examine the situation, including the former Tánaiste, Mr. John Wilson, God be good to him. Hydrographic surveys were carried out. We have so many reports and surveys at this stage that I could fill a double axle wheelbarrow with them all and not be able to get into the House. I have in my hands only a synopsis of one but I have several with me. It might be only a small one but wait until I start reading it into the record. These are all related to the Bill and the report. I do not doubt the veracity of the Minister of State but this matter must be revisited apart from any commitment to consultation.

Why must we go down this road? Why not leave well enough alone? What is happening at departmental and governmental level with regard to Bantry is such that for the first time in my political and actual lifetime, we are making progress. We have plans that can be realised. If the situation is not broken, then why fix it? No one on Bantry Bay Harbour Commissioners or the town council is asking the Minister for Transport to proceed with the enabling legislation. When the enabling legislation is in force, we will consult. Let us say that the consultations with the fishermen——