Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Martin for raising this important issue. I am taking the matter on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, who, unfortunately, is not available this morning. As the Senator can appreciate, this is very much an ongoing and fluid scenario and the situation locally at Castletown is changing day by day. I will provide some up-to-date information, taking note of the letter the Senator has just brought to my attention.

Castletown House is an 18th-century neo-Palladian country house built within an extensive estate. In 1994, the OPW took responsibility for Castletown House and estate. Initially, this included only 13 acres of land with the house. It has long been the policy of the OPW to seek to reunite the historic Castletown estate. In 1997, 100 acres south of the house were acquired. The farmyard adjacent to the house was acquired in 2001. In 2006, lands associated with Batty Langley Lodge were acquired, with former Coillte lands to the north and east of the House acquired in 2007. Since 2008, the OPW has reassembled 227 acres of the original 580 acres of land that formed the historic demesne.

As part of its policy to seek to reunite the historic Castletown demesne lands with the house and lands in the care of the State, the OPW has sought on several occasions to purchase the lands from Janus Securities, including when the lands were offered for sale on the open market in 2022. However, despite the best efforts of the OPW, the State was outbid in the open market process and, ultimately, the lands were acquired by a private purchaser. The OPW entered into negotiations with the new landowners on a licence agreement in May 2023. While the OPW was prepared to pay the significant uplift in the licence fee the landowners were seeking, it could not agree to the unreasonable terms of the licence agreement. The landowners then allowed the use of the M4 access road and car park until 15 September 2023.

In the interest of ensuring access for the approximate 25,000 annual visitors to Castletown House and the approximate 1 million visitors to the estate, the OPW continued to work with the landowners. Over the summer, the OPW sought to purchase the land from the private landowner. This was unsuccessful. In September, the OPW engaged in a mediation process with the landowner but there was no outcome, which was disappointing. The OPW has a responsibility to ensure public access to Castletown House and estate and is funded by the Oireachtas to do so. In furtherance of this public policy objective, the OPW explored creating a small car park within the State-owned lands. The purpose of this was to ensure adequate access to Castletown House, which is of national and international importance. The proposed temporary car park would ensure access to the primary historic route through the Celbridge Gate and over Lime Avenue to Castletown House. It would have enhanced facilities for cyclists and people with a disability.

After a robust and positive engagement with the local community and having listened carefully to the views expressed, the OPW did not proceed with its temporary car park plans. The only vehicular access route available to the OPW is Celbridge Avenue. As the car park did not proceed, the impact of this is shared access, with pedestrian priority, through the Celbridge Gate and Lime Avenue. A community protest group at the main entrance has blocked vehicular access to OPW staff and essential suppliers and contractors since 30 September.In recent weeks it has not been possible to collect refuse from the site, repair the heating system, repair visitor toilets and have any other maintenance work completed. This situation is unacceptable for staff to operate within. The Health, Welfare and Safety at Work Act requires the OPW, as an employer, to operate a safe working environment.

The OPW has continually sought to find a solution to these challenges within the community. Following intensive dialogue, and with the assistance of an independent facilitator, the OPW secured the agreement of three out of four local community groups to allow for limited access to Castletown House and estate for OPW staff, as well as essential suppliers and contractors. If it is okay, Acting Chairperson, I will come back in with a supplementary response.