David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Shane McEntee, and thank him for taking this Adjournment matter. There is an urgent need for funding to repair the pier at Helvick in County Waterford. It was brought to my attention at a recent meeting between Oireachtas Members and the executive of Waterford County Council that an application for funding of €1.2 million was made by the council to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 2009. There are two aspects to the proposed redevelopment: first, the extension of a slipway at the pier to accommodate the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, RNLI, lifeboat; and, second, the necessity to repair the substantial damage to the pier.

The main pier has become honeycombed at foundation level and the sea is passing under it. A former engineer with the county council remarked to me that it is amazing the pier is still standing. Weight restrictions are in place but there is an urgent need to address this problem. I asked my party colleague, Deputy Michael Colreavy, to table a parliamentary question on this issue recently, which he did. The issue goes back to 2003 and many Deputies and Senators have raised it in the past. I received the same standard response which began: "The responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the pier lies with the local authority." That may be correct but, in this instance, we are talking about substantial damage, substantial remedial work and substantial costs. Waterford County Council simply does not have the means to repair the damage. All local authorities are strapped for cash and do not have the ability to borrow. As such, the council requires support from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. It is unreasonable to expect the local authority to shoulder the cost of the necessary works alone.

The director of services with responsibility for this area indicated to me that if the repair works are not carried out, the potential future cost of rebuilding a collapsed pier would be a multiple of what it would cost to carry out the remedial work now. It makes economic sense for the Department to initiate a joined-up plan with the local authority to provide the necessary funding. It does not matter to the remaining fishermen in Helvick whether the funding comes from the county council or the Department; they simply want to ensure the pier is safe and will not collapse.

As I said, there are two separate aspects to the work that is required and there seems to be some confusion in the response of the Minister to the parliamentary question. He talks about a funding application which was sent to Waterford County Council in respect of the slipway repair. The rib of the slipway had to be expanded in order to allow the lifeboat to launch in a straight line. Essentially, that was the issue involved. Waterford County Council carried out the work and paid for it with its own funds and those it procured from the CLÁR programme and Údarás na Gaeltachta.

The work has been done but the real issue at hand is the substantial damage to the pier. I must stress that there must be proper co-ordination between the Department and Waterford County Council in respect of putting a plan in place to ensure that the necessary funding will be made available. There will be no point returning to this matter in a number of years when more damage has been done and, as stated earlier, when we will be obliged to spend much more money to repair the pier. That would not make financial or economic sense. In addition, it would not make sense to the members of the local community who would suffer if the pier were to collapse. I ask the Minister of State to address that issue and to contact the county council in the interests of ensuring that there will be some form of joined-up plan for the future between it and the Department.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this issue. If he does not receive the answers he is seeking, I hope he will not leave the House frustrated as I did on many occasions when I was in opposition in the Lower House. I will pursue further any issues about which the Senator is concerned but which are not addressed in my reply. I read the reply before entering the House and it seems that someone missed the boat in recent years.

I welcome the opportunity to deal with the issues raised by Senator Cullinane in respect of the pier at Helvick, County Waterford. I wish to clarify the position with regard to the responsibilities of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food regarding the development of fishery harbours. My Department is responsible for the day-to-day running, maintenance and development of the six fishery harbour centres. These are located at Killybegs, Ros an Mhíl, Dingle, Castletownbere, Dunmore East and Howth.

There are, however, numerous other fishery harbours throughout the country which are not in the ownership of my Department. In the main, these harbours are in the ownership of the various local authorities and my Department is committed to assisting, where possible, their development and upgrade. Funding for such developments has traditionally been provided under my Department's fishery harbours and coastal infrastructure development programme, subject, of course, to the availability of Exchequer funding. Helvick Pier in County Waterford falls into this category and is in the ownership of Waterford County Council which is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the harbour, as well as its maintenance and development.

Waterford County Council has made a number of applications for funding under the fishery harbours and coastal infrastructure development programme in recent years. In 2007, the then Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources approved funding for underpinning works on the pier which were to cost €690,000, 75% of which was to be funded by the Department. Unfortunately, due to delays on the part of Waterford County Council in the appointment of a consultant and the tender process, it was unable to appoint a contractor and complete the approved works and draw down the approved grant.

Waterford County Council again applied for funding in 2008 under the Department's fishery harbours and coastal infrastructure development programme. This application, in conjunction with all others received, was given full consideration and assessed with reference to available Exchequer funding and overall national priorities. The funding application for Helvick was, however, unsuccessful on that occasion. In 2009, my Department received a further application from Waterford County Council for funding under the fishery harbours and coastal infrastructure development programme for improvements at the pier, including the extension and realignment of the existing slipway. The cost of this project was stated as €300,000. Regrettably, however, given the limited Exchequer funding available at that time it was not possible to fund any local authority-managed projects in 2009 and, therefore, the request for funding in respect of the pier at Helvick was not successful.

In September 2010, my Department was in a position, with limited resources, to invite local authorities, including Waterford County Council, to submit applications for funding for projects costing a maximum of €150,000. No application was received from Waterford County Council at that time. This year my Department invited local authorities to submit applications in respect of priority harbour development projects for inclusion in the 2011 fishery harbours and coastal infrastructure development programme in early May. In light of the limited resources available and with the aim of maximising the number of individual projects that could be progressed, the maximum cost of each project was limited to €150,000. Waterford County Council submitted an initial application to my Department which identified the extension and repair of the RNLI slipway at Helvick Pier to allow the launch of the rescue vessel at low tide as its top priority. The cost of the project was stated as €96,400.

Following a short-listing of initial applications, my Department circulated detailed application forms to the various local authorities seeking additional information in respect of projects in order to assist in the further evaluation of the preliminary applications. A detailed application form was issued to Waterford County Council in respect of Helvick Pier and other projects. The deadline for the return of these application forms was 10 June last. No reply was received from Waterford County Council and, therefore, my Department's evaluation committee was unable to consider any Waterford County Council projects for inclusion in the programme. The local authority element of the 2011 fishery harbours and coastal infrastructure development programme has now been finalised and it is not possible at this stage to approve any funding for works at Helvick pier.

I do not know if I have provided the information the Senator is seeking. As stated earlier, however, it appears that someone missed the boat.

David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State referred to the ownership of the pier resting with Waterford County Council and indicated that the latter has responsibility for maintenance, which is fine. However, this does not prevent the Department from providing grant aid. The position is similar to that which applies in respect of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. That Department provides grant aid to local authorities to carry out remediation works to housing stock which they own. It is not the case that the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food cannot provide the funding. However, it may be that it is not in a position to allocate funding at present. The latter is a separate issue.

There appears to be some confusion regarding the various applications made by Waterford County Council, particularly in the context of what it was seeking. The Minister of State indicated that the 2007 application listed the total cost of repairs at €690,000 and that the 2009 application listed it as €300,000. I am not sure, therefore, if we are referring to the same funding application. There appears to be confusion regarding the repair works relating to the slipway and the substantial works required in respect of the pier. Perhaps some works were carried out by the county council in the period between 2007 and 2009. I understand from discussions I had with the director of services at Waterford County Council that the new sum required in respect of the remediation works to be carried out on the pier is €1.2 million. That is a significant amount of money. We must consider, however, what would be the cost if the pier was to collapse completely.

I accept the Minister of State's reply and I understand that he is required to return to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to discuss the matter further. There is a need for a joined-up plan involving the Department and the county council because otherwise there is potential for an extremely difficult situation to arise in respect of the pier at Helvick. It would not be good if the State were obliged to spend huge amounts of money to build a new pier. We should invest the necessary funds now in order to repair the existing pier.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Senator stated, there appears to be some confusion regarding the cost involved, which was initially estimated at €690,000. It appears that when the money was available, someone slipped up. I ask that the Senator return to the county council and clarify all of these matters. He can then approach me personally and I will meet him in the Department. I am aware that money is scarce but if we can get to the bottom of this matter and avoid any mix-ups, then perhaps we can start afresh. I accept the Senator's point that if the pier collapses it will cost between €2 million and €3 million to rebuild.