Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is no problem, and I thank the Chair. I want to raise the issue of beaches and where we are with our beach environment at the moment. Cork County Council, from this weekend, will roll out 40 lifeguards over, I think, 12 beaches around County Cork. It is a really important and valuable asset that we are going to have lifeguards out from now until the second week of September. However, I would argue the point quite clearly that we have 1,200 km of coastline in County Cork. We have literally hundreds of beaches. I think there needs to be a more proactive programme put in place to make sure these amenities are more accessible, not alone with lifeguards - which are a really important part of that - but also car parking and particularly toilets, which need to be a part of the roll-out of a strategic policy to make sure that these beaches are more accessible to people. They are a wonderful asset to young and old, and I do not understand why we are not doing more to make sure they are more accessible.

This is particularly the case for the toilets issue. I fundamentally do not understand, in the day we are living in, why we do not have access to toilets for the majority of these beaches. It does not work for families and it does not work for society. We need to look at how we are going to promote our amenities. These amenities are huge and wonderful. I am blessed in where I live, and blessed that I have amenities like beaches that are literally within two or three miles of me, but none of them has the amenities that are required for people. I would argue the point that we need to put in place a strategic plan for lifeguards in particular; for access, which involves car parking; and also for toilets. That needs to be done around Ireland because we need to promote our tourism product, particularly for the locals who want to go to these beaches. This needs to be led by the Department of local government in particular. It is the only Department with the funding power to make sure this happens. It is unbelievable that we have not done it already but now we need to put that strategic plan in place.