Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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310. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the plans in place for the development of facilities for the Coast Guard Services in Courtown, County Wexford and Arklow, County Wicklow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44507/24]

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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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 Office of Public Works (OPW) on behalf of the Department of Transport, who fund the programme.

In relation to the existing Courtown Coast Guard Station, it is a single room limestone-built building, originally designed for storage of rescue equipment. 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, therefore the OPW is continuing to liaise with the Department of Transport and the Irish Coast Guard to progress a proposed new location for the Coast Guard Station at Courtown. In this regard, number of potential sites in the ownership of the local authority were identified, with a market trawl identifying a number of other potential sites that may meet the requirements of the Coast Guard. The OPW completed an appraisal process on all sites identified. 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.

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 are in active negotiations with the owner of the preferred site. As a result, given the commercially sensitive nature of the negotiations, the OPW are not in a position to provide further information on individual sites at this time.

The next steps require authorisation of funding by the Department of Transport, completion of the due diligence and acquisition of the preferred site. Once a suitable site is acquired, the OPW will assign a project team to commence the planning and detailed design stages of the project, to enable a tender process to be undertaken.

In relation to the Arklow project, the OPW completed a detailed design for a single storey extension to the existing Coastguard Rocket Cart house. A planning application was submitted in 2023 and the decision to grant permission for the proposed extension was made by Wicklow County Council on the 5th December 2023, with the final grant received on 25th January 2024.

The OPW are currently undertaking procurement for the services of a consultant civil and structural engineer, to complete the design team. In tandem, a Fire Safety Certificate and Disabled Access Certificate application are being prepared and will be lodged with the Local Authority in the coming weeks. The timeline for approval of these, following lodgement, is a minimum 8 weeks.

It is anticipated that the new tender process will commence in the coming months, with a contract awarded in Q1 2025. Construction will commence on completion of the tender process, the appointment of a contractor and the granting of statutory approvals. The construction of the new facility is currently estimated to take approximately 9 months, from construction commencement to completion.