Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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755. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of vacant retail units in each fisheries harbour centre under the remit of his Department, and the current condition of each unit, in tabular form. [51837/25]

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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My Department owns, operates, develops and maintains six designated State-owned Fishery Harbour Centres (FHCs), located at Castletownbere, Dingle, Dunmore East, Howth, Killybegs and Ros An Mhíl, under statute.

Properties vested in me by virtue of the 1968 Fishery Harbour Centres Act are to be used for such purposes connected with the improvement and development of the fish industry and the provision, improvement and development of services ancillary to or connected with the fish industry. Therefore, the FHCs contain a diverse property portfolio reflecting their role as working fishery harbours and as the location for a broad range of other marine activities. As such, property units are not strictly or solely for retail use.

I can assure the Deputy that vacant properties are regularly reviewed by my Department to assess their suitability for making them available for tender to interested applicants and to provide rental income for the Fishery Harbour Centres Fund.

There are currently 11 vacant properties across the six harbours, some of which are being prepared for open tender, and others which have recently come back into my Department’s possession and are undergoing remedial works.

In addition, while there may be properties within the FHCs which appear vacant, these properties are either legally occupied or, in a limited number of cases, subject to legal proceedings.

The following table outlines the location and the status of the vacant properties.