Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach. I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter which is on the question of coastal erosion. The Minister of State, like I, comes from a coastal area. We are very familiar with the importance of our coasts and indeed our beautiful beaches. I know the Acting Chair will also be very familiar with this in his home patch. We are very fortunate as an island nation to have such beautiful coasts, in fact we have about 5,800 km of coastline right around our shores.

I very much welcomed the actions taken by Government when last October, the Department of housing and the OPW jointly published a national strategy to deal with the problem of coastal erosion and indeed how we look specifically at coastal management. We are very much aware of the threat of rising sea levels. If we continue to see the problem of the polar caps melting, that will have an impact on our shore. We can look at all the scientific evidence but I grew up very close to the sea and now when I walk along the coast, I can see how it differs from when I was child. You can see the accretion of sand, the movements of sand along the shore, the loss of land and the impact there. I very much welcomed it when the Government put together this strategy but as the Minister of State will be aware, simply putting together a strategy is not good enough and I hope we will hear today about progress on a number of the measures.

There was an indication that a number of them would be set up immediately. One was that there would be this interdepartmental working group to address all the issues. Another was that there would be greater levels of training for local authority staff in how to manage coastal change and that we would also start to establish a research database looking at the impact of coastal erosion of our coasts. Another was that a register of coastal infrastructure would be established because we know the reality is we are going to have to make decisions as to what it is we are going to have to save. We will continue to lose land to the sea.

What is also critical and very welcome in this document is a commitment to engage with the coastal communities. I certainly know that in Wexford the coastal communities are very familiar with what is going on in the areas where they live. They see the loss of habitat as well as obviously the loss of shoreline and the loss of some of our beaches. They want to work actively with Government agencies to protect insofar as possible our beautiful beaches but also our coasts. There is that commitment in there.

I am looking for an update on the implementation of the strategy. I will probably regularly look for this because in order to protect our coastal communities and our beaches, it is essential. It is vital for tourism but also for the people who live in those areas. For the natural habitats that are there, it is a really serious issue and I hope the Minister of State will be able to provide us with an update.