First I welcome the opportunity that the presentation of this Bill gives for a debate on Dún Laoghaire harbour. However, I am disappointed that the opportunity has not been used to introduce more comprehensive legislation. During a recent meeting with a deputation from Dún Laoghaire Borough Council we met with the Minister for the Marine and I asked him if he would not use this Bill to establish a Dún Laoghaire Harbour Authority and to introduce the necessary legislation. He explained how difficult it is to get parliamentary time for the introduction of legislation and said that was the reason it was intended to establish an interim authority. I can understand the difficulty getting parliamentary time and in getting legislation prepared. However, I think it is a waste of parliamentary time for Dáil Éireann to spend an entire day dealing with a Bill which is purely technical, which simply transfers the responsibility for Dún Laoghaire harbour from one Government Department to another, particularly when that has already been done in practice and has been in place for over a year, and when we urgently need legislation to establish a harbour authority which would provide a legislative basis for the future development of Dún Laoghaire harbour.
The very least I expected today was that the Minister would use the opportunity to announce the establishment of the interim harbour authority, to announce the members of it and the powers and functions of that interim authority. I am very disappointed that he has not done so particularly since it is now six weeks since he promised the deputation from the Dún Laoghaire Borough Council that he would make that announcement within two weeks. I ask the Minister — and I would like him to respond — what is the reason for the delay in announcing the interim harbour authority? Has he changed his mind about it? In response to a Dáil question last week he informed us that the powers of the interim harbour authority would be advisory but in the course of the meeting with the deputation, of which I was a member, he made it clear that the powers would be considerably more wide ranging. The Minister's failure to announce the establishment of the interim harbour authority today seems to suggest that the Government are yet again backsliding on the establishment of a harbour authority for Dún Laoghaire. I accept, and it is important to give credit where it is due, that since the Department of the Marine took responsibility for Dún Laoghaire harbour we have seen a considerable improvement in the way the harbour has been managed as opposed to the neglectful way it was managed previously.
Dún Laoghaire is one of the finest man made resources in this country. It has enormous potential for serving the recreational needs not only of the people of Dún Laoghaire but of the greater Dublin area as well. It can be developed, for the creation of employment and it can enhance the environment of both Dún Laoghaire town and Dublin Bay, but it has suffered enormously from neglect down the years.
For most people Dún Laoghaire harbour was the port through which this country exported its people and it is remarkable that, despite the enormous number of Irish people travelling out of the country, through emigration, and back to visit their relatives, passenger facilities throughout this port have not been developed. Indeed, the attempts which were made in the sixties to provide a new ferry terminal had to be abandoned because the terminal was too small and too dangerous. It was a waste of taxpayers' money to try to provide that terminal when it had to be subsequently abandoned. It was also wrong that the rail link which connected the ferry to the Dún Laoghaire railway station was closed down. For foot passengers it is now much more difficult to use that ferry because people have to carry their luggage to the station.
Side by side with that, the harbour's potential for leisure facilities was allowed to slip into the hands of the waterfront yacht clubs who catered for the better off and privileged people in our society. The only element of the harbour which was left to local people was the facility to walk the piers — which thousands do every week — or to use the inner harbour, the old coal harbour which was never properly developed. The fabric of that harbour was allowed to deteriorate through the years. Meanwhile, the local people looked on with considerable frustration. The borough council have been arguing for many years for the establishment of a harbour authority with some kind of local control and which would integrate the harbour with the borough. I would like to mention the sterling work which has been done by individuals such as Mr. Matt Byrne of An Taisce and Mr. John de Courcy Ireland who highlighted the neglect of Dún Laoghaire harbour.
Six years ago The Workers' Party produced a document on the harbour in which we highlighted the neglect. We argued that the harbour could be developed for the creation of employment in a constituency where there are 7,000 people out of work. We argued that the facilities of the harbour could be used to open leisure facilities for all, not only those who could afford membership of the yacht clubs. All that produced at the time was the establishment of a liaison committee which had no powers, which met only twice and then petered out. Towards the end of 1987 we saw a great flurry of activity: the business expansion scheme would allow tax breaks for people who invest in marinas and there was the prospect of EC money and a quick buck being made from Dún Laoghaire harbour. Suddenly we had a proposal on the table by a two pronged company, which was set up specifically for this purpose, and after all the years of neglect and delay, they managed to get prompt Government attention to the point where the Government made a decision without even consulting local interests, the local council or anybody else. This House knows only too well that that proposal produced a storm of local protest. People were brought together in the Dún Laoghaire Watch Committee to oppose that proposal if for no other reason than it proposed to establish a private marina in the area of the harbour used by ordinary people of the borough who could not afford to use other facilities.
The House also notes that that proposal was subsequently withdrawn by the Government and a planning review group was established to consider the future development of Dún Laoghaire harbour. Such was the Government's enthusiasm for the development of Dún Laoghaire harbour in mid-1988 that they gave the planning review group only three months to do their work. All the various interests had to beaver away and 70 different submissions were made to that planning review group.
It is now almost 12 months to the day since the planning review group made their report. Where is the legislation to implement any of the recommendations in the planning review group? What has happened to it? We got several promises: in the Dáil, in November 1988, we were told that the report of the planning review group would be examined by the Government within a matter of weeks. On 14 February 1989 the Minister of State said, "I can assure the Deputy that the Government have not wasted any time over the past 12 months and will not waste any time over the next few weeks in reaching a decision on the future development of the harbour". At a meeting with the councillors from Dún Laoghaire Borough the then Minister for the Marine promised that the Government would make a decision within a matter of weeks. That was last February. Where is it?
All we have today is a Bill which transfers responsibility for the harbour from one Government Department to another. That is not what was recommended by the planning review group. Their report stated:
We recommend that the management and development of the Harbour should be entrusted to an Authority consisting of a Chairman and 6 ordinary members, appointed by the Minister for the Marine on the basis of their competence to contribute to the running of the Harbour.
The report goes on to state:
The Authority should prepare a comprehensive management plan for the Harbour to provide for the kind of development envisaged in this report.
Both the general public and the Harbour users should be afforded an opportunity to comment on the Management Plan before it is adopted.
The report continues as follows:
As a general principle, the Authority should act as a Semi-State development agency, with the power to borrow or attract funds to implement its plan.
The applications for EC funds under the "National Programme of Community Interest for the Greater Dublin Area" should be supported.
The report goes on to make various recommendations as to the kind of functions the harbour authority should have. Why are these recommendations not being implemented 12 months after the publication of the report of the planning review group who were given only three months to report because of the Government's enthusiasm to get things moving in Dún Laoghaire harbour? It seems that as the prospect of making a quick buck from Dún Laoghaire harbour receded, so too did the Government's enthusiasm for bringing forward legislation to establish a harbour authority. The Minister had a golden opportunity today to annouce the establishment of such an authority but he failed to do so.
After all the debate that has taken place through the years about Dún Laoghaire harbour we should have before us a comprehensive Bill which would establish a harbour authority and enable that authority to draw up a management plan for the harbour encompassing various proposals which have been made. Many commercial bodies and interested groups made very studied and serious proposals in the belief that a harbour authority was to be established and that their submissions and efforts would be taken into account.
Development of the harbour should be centred on a number of areas, the first and most critical of which is the car ferry. I am disappointed that the Minister has not used the opportunity to state his commitment to the retention of the car ferry in Dún Laoghaire. Forty per cent of surface passengers in and out of this country travel on the Dún Laoghaire car ferry. It sails the shortest sea route between this country and Britain. Given that the channel tunnel when completed will make this the only island member of the EC, Dún Laoghaire harbour should be developed as the main port serving this country and the rest of Europe. Far from subscribing to the recommendations of the Planning Review Group which supported the notion of funding being sought from the EC for the development of Dún Laoghaire harbour, it does not feature at all in the Government's submission to the EC. It is quite remarkable that the Government have not sought EC assistance to develop facilities at our major passenger port. Sealink have put forward very good proposals for the development of passenger facilities and these should be supported. This is critical to the future of the harbour.
Better facilities should be provided for existing users of the harbour. I am not talking just about the yacht clubs which by and large are able to look after themselves and are fairly well catered for. I am talking about the many other people who constitute the majority of users of Dún Laoghaire harbour. These include the Dún Laoghaire Sailing School, for example, who train 700 people each year and expect to train over 1,000 people a year by 1990. They are still based in a building in George's Street rather than having facilities in the harbour area.
