Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 30 Mar 1995

Vol. 451 No. 4

Written Answers. - Coastal Erosion.

Noel Dempsey

Question:

41 Mr. Dempsey asked the Minister for the Marine if his attention has been drawn to a report by a European Union expert to the effect that major erosion is taking place on the Meath coast; and the action, if any, he proposes to take in view of the report. [6336/95]

Minister for the Marine (Mr. Coveney)

I am aware that a visit was made, some time back, by Dr. Nuno Gomes of the Department of Geology, University of Lisbon, Portugal, to the Mornington Bay area. Dr. Gomes is an expert on coastal sand dune systems and has been involved in a number of collaborative projects on matters relating to coastal dynamics, sand movement and erosion with research teams from both EU and non-EU states. Dr. Gomes is not employed by the Commission of the European Communities. I understand that during his visit he indicated that erosion is taking place at Mornington and along the Laytown-Bettystown beach.

Any erosion that may be taking place in County Meath, or elsewhere for that matter, is in the first instance the responsibility of the property owner, whether that be a private individual or local authority. Property owners have a vested interest in protecting their own property. The Department of the Marine's role is to work in conjunction with coastal local authorities on the management of the coastal zone. The Department will, of course, provide assistance in terms of technical advise and foreshore permissions.

The Department is also in a position to provide limited grant aid for coastal protection works under the Operational Programme for Environmental Service 1994-1999. Under this programme some £5.1 million is available over the period to the end of 1999, to help address the problem of erosion around our coastline. Given this limited level of funding, it is important that the Department aids the best possible mix of priority protection works. To this end, each maritime local authority has been requested to submit their top four priority proposals for consideration by the Department. The local authorities have also been asked to provide detailed supporting information such as erosion rates, specifics of proposed works, costings, cost benefit analysis, etc.

Meath County Council have submitted proposals to the Department for consideration. These proposals include the provision of gabion protection works at Laytown and Bettystown, and beach-dune nourishment at Bettystown and Mornington. These proposals will be given full consideration along with the proposals submitted by other local authorities.