Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 515: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will issue a lease to Donegal County Council to enable the breakwater project at Buncrana to proceed; when he will do this; and if he will ensure that the money which is in place for this project will be secured beyond 28 November 2008 until spring 2009 in view of the fact that the lease has not yet come through to enable Donegal County Council to proceed with the breakwater project. [42643/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The lease application in question relates to the proposed construction of a breakwater. The Council informed my Department that the breakwater is being constructed solely for the use of the use of the RNLI. In this regard, my Department, acting on legal advice, requested the Council to furnish the details of the arrangements which the Council proposed to make with the RNLI concerning the use of the structure. On 3rd November, the Council advised my Department that it was not its intention to sub-lease the breakwater to the RNLI nor to put any additional arrangements in place. However, the Council has since indicated that it is willing to put such arrangements in place and the details are awaited.

The Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme is announced on an annual basis. Under the 2008 Programme, €900,000 in grant aid was approved by my Department in order to facilitate the construction of a breakwater at Buncrana. However, there is no facility to carry over unspent allocation to the following year. Local authorities have recently been invited to submit their applications for funding for the 2009 programme. Any application by Donegal County Council in respect of Buncrana will be considered on the basis of Exchequer funding and overall national priorities.