Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)

I am proud to be from County Wexford. We have 260 km of golden coasts but, unfortunately, in an era of climate change that is bringing difficulties for residents living along the coast. Some 211 km of that 260 km are at risk of coastal erosion. Last Friday with local councillor Frank Staples, I visited Ballyhealy, an area now suffering from at least 1 m per year disappearing into the sea. In recent storms that has been exacerbated and up to 5 m of Wexford coastline has disappeared into the sea. Within 200 m of our coast, there are 4,355 properties. All of these are at risk of disappearing into the sea in the next ten to 15 years. Unless there is direct action in places like Ballyhealy, the result will be the loss of businesses, agricultural land and residents. The residents in the area are terrified their homes will disappear into the sea. I call for an urgent debate on our national coastal erosion strategy with the Minister and for proper resources to be put in place. Up the road from this location, there was successful rock armour protection in Seaview, Kilmore, but the problem has worsened further upstream where it is not protected. We need to get to grips with this issue before it is too late.