Averil Power (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State's acknowledgement that Howth is more than just a fishing harbour, and he listed some of the major events held there that help to attract people to the area, including the prawn festival, the Asgard celebrations and major leisure events, but I cannot stress strongly enough how central the availability of free parking is to the success of such events. Howth Yacht Club has made that very clear in its submissions to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine about this issue. Parking availability is essential if Howth is to win bids for major sporting events, because people heading out to sea are hugely dependent on the weather and cannot determine whether they will return in an hour, two hours or three hours. It is important to stress that the reason we have had those successes is that we have sufficient availability of free parking. The implementation of paid parking in other areas such as Dún Laoghaire has been a disaster from the point of view of holding marine leisure events.

I welcome the fact that the Minister has recognised that there are broader issues involved, but I am disappointed that the issue is still under consideration. I had hoped, as it has not been implemented over the past two and a half years, that the Department had considered it in the round and was backing away from the disastrous impact this would have on Howth. The Minister of State mentioned the reports of the Committee of Public Accounts-----