Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is, as always, very welcome to the Chamber. It is unfortunate the Minister of State with direct responsibility in the matter I am raising, Deputy O'Donovan, is unavoidably absent. I appreciate the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, stepping in for him this morning. I know he will relay back to his colleague our deliberations and discussion.

It is well documented that 235 acres of the Castletown lands in Celbridge, County Kildare, were sold on the open market earlier this year. The OPW was outbid in its efforts to reunite those lands with the wonderful Castletown House. There is an absolutely incredible community resolve to ensure the right thing happens. Local people have an amazingly singular and unified purpose, which is reflected among both local politicians and all Oireachtas Members representing the Kildare North constituency. The local community is absolutely committed and dedicated to resolving this matter. People in Celbridge are exceptionally dignified in their campaigning but they should not be underestimated. We want to see the lands reunited and the M4 gate open for access to cars, as was the case previously.

Together with other Oireachtas Members, I recently attended a meeting at which the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, was present. He stated, as was later confirmed in a press release, that the OPW is committed to exploring all options. He reassured me at the meeting that people in the OPW are not sitting around staring at a telephone and waiting for it to ring. I have a letter to hand, which is in reasonably wide circulation, and it is from the solicitors acting for the developer to the Chief State Solicitor's office. The solicitors want to reopen dialogue on the terms that two valuers would be appointed, as is the norm, they would agree a valuation and would then meet with the OPW with the aim of reaching a mutually acceptable agreement on the current market value, with each party to pay its own costs. This happens all the time with valuations. Two independent experts are appointed and a value is agreed. It is not an airy-fairy valuation; it takes into consideration the detail of the given circumstances.

I respectfully suggest there is enough sentiment in this letter, which has been circulated reasonably widely, to test the bona fides of the developer. It behoves us to do our utmost to see whether this proposal can be the breakthrough that breaks the impasse. On foot of the letter, I hope the OPW will be very active in ensuring a meeting happens. The previous mediation failed. We are not allowed to say what it involved because the rules in that regard are very strict. This will be a more transparent process. For once and for all, we will know whether an agreement is possible. I ask the Minister of State to help by emphasising to his ministerial colleague that this is a potential way forward. The very least that must be done is that we test the bona fides of this latest attempt at agreement.