Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 2 Nov 1993

Vol. 435 No. 3

Written Answers. - Bray (County Wicklow) Coastal Erosion.

Liz McManus

Question:

74 Ms McManus asked the Minister for the Marine the plans, if any, he has in relation to the Bray coastal protection scheme in view of the allocation of funding for the purpose of coastal protection in the National Development Plan, 1994-1999.

Minister for the Marine (Mr. Andrews)

Primary responsibility for coastal protection lies with the property owner, whether it be a private individual or a local authority. The Department of the Marine's role is to work in conjunction with local authorities on the management of the coastal zone rather than on individual sites.

EC Structural Funds are being sought under the National Plan to help address the growing erosion problem. A sum of £5.5 million is to be made available over the period 1994 through 1999. In order to draw up a national coastal protection plan, all maritime local authorities were invited to submit proposals for addressing serious erosion problems in their administrative areas. These proposals are with the Department and are currently being examined with a view to their possible inclusion in the plan.

The cost of the proposals submitted far exceeds the moneys available for this purpose under the National Plan. As a result, the Department will only be able to grant aid local authorities in respect of the most urgent coastal erosion problems proposed, having regard to economic, environmental and ecological impacts.

Further consultation with local authorities will be required before a list of urgent coastal erosion projects for inclusion in the programme is finalised. In addition, an Operational Programme to enable the EC funding to be drawn down remains to be agreed with the Commission of the European Communities. Pending completion of these exercises it is not possible to identify which projects will be included in the finalised programme. That being said, I am familiar with the particular problem at Bray, County Wicklow and am giving full consideration to its inclusion in the programme.