Seanad debates
Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Office of Public Works
10:30 am
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I congratulate Deputy O’Donnell on his new role and I wish him the best of luck as the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW. He has always been willing to come before this House and I am appreciative that he has come in for this Commencement matter.
I raise the issue of the Coast Guard station at Courtown. My own relationship with it goes back approximately a decade when we were trying to identify potential sites. This is one of the old Rocket House stations. Up to two dozen members of the Coast Guard who provide a really valuable service for the coastal communities in north Wexford and, indeed, into south Wicklow. Yet, since coming into the Oireachtas, I have been trying to pursue this matter with the OPW. I have raised Commencement matters about the issue of the new site on a number of occasions and there is a consensus that the existing facilities are not suitable.
Let me give the Minister of State a flavour of what some Ministers and Ministers of State have told me when sitting in that chair. On 24 February 2022, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, said that six possible sites had by then been identified by the OPW and that the Coast Guard at Courtown was on the building programme priority list. On 23 November 2022, the then Minister, Deputy Harris, was taking Commencement matters and informed me that this was “one of the key priorities for the OPW”. Further, he said that “OPW officials are giving this project every priority possible at this time”.
In the summer of 2023, because there may have been some issue with Wexford County Council, I facilitated a meeting which, involved the Coast Guard. The Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, was in attendance. Wexford County Council said that as far as it is concerned, there is no issue and that it would work with the OPW and anybody else to facilitate this. I corresponded back and forward with the OPW, which said it was now down to five potential sites and it was still considering it. I did not hear much progress, and on 10 October 2023, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, took a Commencement matter on this issue. She said that new accommodation for the Courtown Coast Guard has been identified as “one of the key priorities” of the OPW in its building programme.
I welcome the Minister of State to his role, but I am somewhat worried that somebody in the OPW will tell him that something it was doing is a key priority for them, given the time it is taking to make any progress. I tried to make contact with OPW, as indeed, have people who are involved with the Coast Guard locally, to see if there is any progress. Sites have been identified and pointed out to the OPW. A local landowner said they would be willing to look at this facility being there. I, therefore, want to ask the Minister of State if he would facilitate a meeting involving me, representatives of the Coast Guard, Wexford County Council, etc., to ensure this much-needed facility will finally get up and running. It is completely unfair to those who operate the Coast Guard that this has continued to run on and on as it has been doing. We are not able to get answers from the OPW. I am losing confidence in the OPW to deliver on this project. Will the Minister of State please indicate that this is a priority for him?
Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context
As Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, I was very keen to take this Commencement matter myself. I have been in this role for a relatively short period, but I know this subject is of huge importance to the Senator. Progress has been made and I would like to update him on it today. I thank him for raising this important matter and I am pleased to provide an update. I know he has previously raised this with my predecessor. I can see it is a matter he has been raising for quite a significant period.
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 and covers areas such as planning, design, building and ongoing maintenance. These projects are funded by the Department.
Programme priorities are decided by the Coast Guard and the programme is overseen by a programme oversight group consisting of representatives from the 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 Coast Guard service.
New accommodation for the Courtown Coast Guard unit is included - and it is worth repeating this - 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 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, the use of the facility in its current form is unsustainable, and everyone agreed with that. 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. The OPW continued to engage with Wexford County Council and received clarity in June 2023 on a potential site that, subject to the completion of legal due diligence, may be available. A market trawl also identified a number of other potential sites that may meet the requirements of the Coast Guard. The Senator will appreciate that, under the public spending code, the OPW is required to look at all possible sites. The OPW completed the appraisal process on all sites identified, in accordance with the requirements of the public spending code. As part of the appraisal process, feasibility studies were carried out on the potential sites 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.
This is the key point for the Senator. Following completion of the feasibility studies, a preferred site was selected following consultation between the OPW and the Department of Transport in March 2024. The OPW is now in active negotiations with the owner of the preferred site, but this is at a very early and commercially sensitive stage. As the process is still ongoing, the OPW is not in a position to provide further information on individual sites at this time, but it is worth repeating that a preferred site has been selected. That is following consultation between the OPW and the Department of Transport in March this year. The OPW is in active negotiations with the owner of the preferred site, but the Senator will appreciate that it is at a commercially sensitive stage and we are not in a position to provide any further information on the individual at this time. However, I am glad to report that progress has been made.
Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Before Senator Malcolm Byrne responds I welcome Scoil Ghráinne from Clonee, Dublin 15. They are welcome and I hope they enjoy their tour.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Cuirim fáilte anseo roimh na scoláirí freisin. I thank the Minister of State for that response. There is nothing new in it bar the last paragraph, and we had heard rumours to that effect. While I appreciate it is at a commercially sensitive point, I ask the Minister of State for assurance that there will be a Plan B, should Plan A fall through on this site. I also ask that there be communication from the OPW to the Coast Guard in Courtown. They are looking for certainty that something is going to happen. I do not want to have to come back to this House in six months, pose the same Commencement matter to the Minister of State, and get the same three or four pages except the last paragraph will say that the commercial negotiations fell through and we are back looking for another site. As he will have seen, the county council identified a number of sites and they were no longer available. That is primarily because the OPW did not go after those sites. The sites do not sit around waiting for the OPW. I ask that they be more proactive. I welcome that negotiations are going on, but I request that the Minister of State's office keep in touch with the Coast Guard locally to inform it that there is significant progress.
Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I give that assurance. The mechanism may be that we will update the Department of Transport, which will update the Coast Guard because that is the line Department. I hope the Coast Guard in Courtown is listening to today's debate. The next step requires completion of a due diligence acquisition for the preferred site. Once a suitable site is acquired the OPW will assign a project team to commence the planning and detailed design stage of the project. The tender process will then follow the OPW-managed delivery of the new Coast Guard facility in Courtown, while continuing to work closely in the Department of Transport to deliver on the overall Coast Guard programme. At this time it is unfortunately not possible to provide a commencement date for the start of construction of the new Coast Guard facility in Courtown. The Senator did not ask but I think it is important for certainty and clarity for the Coast Guard in Courtown. I once again assure Senator Malcolm Byrne and the 24 people in the Coast Guard in Courtown, who provide invaluable public service to the people in the region and in Ireland, that the OPW is committed to continuing to work with the Department of Transport and the Irish Coast Guard to deliver on a station in Courtown and other priority locations. I will ensure the Senator is kept fully updated of any developments. I will furthermore arrange, if not already done, for the OPW to update the Department of Transport and follow on to update the Coast Guard in Courtown as well.
Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell. On my behalf, and as his colleague in Limerick, I congratulate him on his new appointment. I wish him the best in his new role.
Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I join with others in welcoming the múinteoirí and their students. It is great to see them. They are wearing their school colours.
Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I welcome Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, to the House.