Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cathaoirleach and cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit.

I am raising the case of the Courtown Coast Guard station. The station serves both north County Wexford and south County Wicklow. It is one of the old rocket stations. The Minister of State is the third Minister or Minister of State to deal with a Commencement matter on this issue since I entered the House. Five Ministers and Ministers of State have visited the Courtown Coast Guard station and a range of commitments have been made to the station, none of which has yet been delivered. I appreciate that the Minister of State is taking this matter on behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW and I hope she will have some good news.

When I raised this matter on Thursday, 24 February 2022 with the Minister of State's colleague from Galway, the Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, she indicated that six possible sites had been identified and stated: "The OPW has commenced preliminary investigative work on these potential sites and will update us as these investigations progress." She also stated that this project had been prioritised and was "on the building programme priority list". On 23 November 2022, the Minister, Deputy Harris, responded to the matter. He was quite familiar with the issue, given that the station serves part of County Wicklow. He outlined that this was"one of the key priorities" for the OPW, indicated that the OPW was investigating all potential sites and assured me that "OPW officials are giving this project every priority possible at this time". Eleven months ago, the OPW was giving this project every possible priority.

I have been in regular contact with the Minister's office. All sorts of concerns were raised, such as that the county council was not fully on board with the project. The Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, visited Courtown and met Wexford County Council and the Coast Guard. The county council said it was perfectly happy with the preferred options on site. During the summer, I was told that the OPW was looking at five preferred sites, which was a little better than when it looking at six preferred sites 15 months earlier.

The problem I have is that I keep being told by the OPW that this is a priority, that it is on its priority building list and what wonderful work the Coast Guard does. Coming from a coastal constituency like I do, the Minister, Deputy Harris, knows exactly how important the work of the Coast Guard is. However, the reality is that the team members who operate and put their lives at risk at the station in Courtown, continue to operate in a completely unsuitable old Coast Guard station. Sites have been identified and pointed out to the OPW. The Coast Guard wants to see this done as quickly as possible. I hope that, if this has been on the OPW's list, as all the Ministers and Ministers of State have said, and if it is giving this project every priority, as I have been told, that the Minister of State will finally have some good news, not for me, but for the coastal communities of north County Wexford and south County Wicklow.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator and appreciate that he finished on time because we have six Commencement matters and a tight schedule today. The Minister of State is welcome to the House on this busy day for the Government. I appreciate her time.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Acting Chairperson and Senator Byrne. He is raising this matter for the fourth time today. I am pleased to provide a further update on the matter, which I know he previously raised with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, on whose behalf I am taking the Commencement matter. He sends his apologies for not being in a position to attend this morning.I will let the Senator judge whether we have made progress.

The Irish Coast Guard, a division of the Department of Transport, has 44 units based in 58 Coast Guard stations. The Coast Guard building programme, which includes the provision of new or upgraded facilities at a number of locations across the country, is managed by the OPW on behalf of the Department of Transport from planning design to build and ongoing maintenance. These projects are funded by the Department of Transport.

Programme priorities are decided by the Irish Coast Guard and the programme is overseen by a programme oversight group consisting of representatives from Department of Transport, the Coast Guard and the OPW. The OPW provides advice and assistance on the design of such projects, site feasibility studies, acquisition of sites from the local authority or others, planning and detail design and manages the delivery in line with the requirements of the Department of Transport and the Coast Guard.

New accommodation for the Courtown Coast Guard unit is included as one of the key priorities of this delivery programme. The existing Courtown Coast Guard station is a single-room limestone-built building originally designed for storage of rescue equipment. It is situated at a busy intersection of three roads and has no available off-road area in which to park. The OPW has carried out some minor remedial works to the building in the past to provide dry storage and office space and to address essential health and safety issues. Although building works alleviated some of the problems, use of the facility in its current form is unsustainable. As the current site is only slightly larger than the building footprint and is bordered to the rear by a steep river gulley, there is very limited capacity to provide for any expansion or upgraded facility.

Since this matter was last raised, the OPW is continuing to liaise with the Irish Coast Guard to progress a proposed new location for the Coast Guard station at Courtown. As outlined previously a number of potential sites in the ownership of the local authority had been put forward by the Coast Guard but these sites are no longer available. However, the OPW has continued to engage with Wexford County Council and received clarity in late June regarding a potential site that, subject to the completion of legal due diligence, may be available. In addition, a market trawl identified a number of other potential sites that may meet the requirements of the Coast Guard.

All potential sites are going through an appraisal process in accordance with the requirements of the public spending code. As part of the appraisal process, feasibility studies will be carried out on the potential sites in the coming weeks to ensure that all the Coast Guard requirements can be provided for and that there is no impediment to the proposed development, which will be subject to planning. The feasibility studies will allow the appraisal process to be completed and a preferred site to be identified. Following this, the OPW will enter into discussions on the acquisition of the site with the owner and the project will move forward to the next stages in the process. As the appraisal process is still ongoing, we are not in a position to provide further information on individual sites at this time.

Unfortunately, at this time, it is not possible to provide a commencement date for the start of the construction of a new facility in Courtown. However, once a suitable site is acquired, the Minister of State's officials will assign a project team to commence the planning and detail design and manage the delivery of the programme.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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Most of that reply told us things we already knew but I do welcome the fact that there is an acknowledgement by the OPW that the current site is unsustainable. A number of potential sites were put forward by the Coast Guard but are no longer available. This is because the OPW has taken so long. Sites do not just sit around waiting for the OPW to make its decision.

One identified site has been on the market for some time. In terms of legal due diligence, this speaks to the meeting that was arranged with the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Chambers, in June. It is now October and one would have hoped that the OPW would have carried out due diligence on this site by now. I worry that I am going to be here in six months time and we will not have any answers to the questions. I therefore ask the Minister of State to bring this back to the Minister as a matter of urgency.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I certainly will bring it back to the Minister of State.He is probably listening in to the Commencement debate this morning.

The public spending code has been reviewed with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, so that might enable the pushing of the project along a little quicker.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her time on what is a very busy day. I appreciate it.