Tony Killeen
Question:12 Mr. Killeen asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht the role he envisages for the Planning Authority in the preparation of his proposed plan for the Burren National Park in the north Clare area. [7719/95]
Written Answers. - Burren and Wicklow National Park Visitors Centres.
Tony Killeen
Question:15 Mr. Killeen asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if he intends to seek amendment or vacation of the High Court Order of 12 February 1993, and the Order of 29 July 1993, to enable him to carry out the Government's decision to remove part of the EU-funded works at the Burren National Park Centre, County Clare. [7720/95]
Michael Ahern
Question:31 Mr. M. Ahern asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht the amount of public funds expended to date in relation to Mullaghmore and Luggala; the amount of European Regional Development Fund funds expended to date; and the estimated cost of closing the proposed centres. [6954/95]
Tony Killeen
Question:41 Mr. Killeen asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if he will postpone the withdrawal of the Office of Public Works planning application to Clare County Council for the Burren National Park Centre pending the determination of legal issues which may come before the courts to avoid waste of taxpayers' money. [7071/95]
Liam Lawlor
Question:42 Mr. Lawlor asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if the European Union is seeking repayment of its contributions to the construction costs of the Mullaghmore Centre in view of his abandonment of the project; the total loss to the Exchequer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7130/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 15, 31, 41 and 42 together.
To date, sums of £2,109,755 and £1,800,233 have been expended in relation to the Burren and Wicklow National Park Visitors Centres respectively. Included in these amounts are the cost of site purchase, construction and associated costs, costs associated with interpretative material and disruption costs following the suspension of works in February 1993.
The cost of reinstating the sites at Mullaghmore and Luggala to their original condition are estimated at between £0.5 million to £1 million and from £0.4 million to £0.9 million respectively depending on whether sites have to be restored to their original condition or whether the structures can simply be covered over and rendered unusable.
In relation to European Regional Development Fund expenditure on these projects, amounts of £937,500 and £1,011,750 respectively were allocated under the Operational Programme for Tourism 1989-1993 for the Burren and Wicklow National Park Visitor Centre projects. I understand that there has been no request from the European Union for the repayment of any contribution granted towards either project.
As the Deputies may be aware, planning permission for the Wicklow National Park Visitor Centre was refused by An Bord Pleanála and the planning application for the Burren National Park Visitor Centre was withdrawn on 31 March 1995. I am not aware that there were any impending legal issues which might have come before the courts which would have warranted a postponement of the withdrawal of the planning application. Final decisions as to what use, if any, is to be made of the works already carried out will not be determined until draft management plans for the Burren and Wicklow National Parks have been prepared and the public given the opportunity of contributing to them. At that stage planning permission will be required for any proposals that emerge in relation to those sites.
Officials of my Department are putting in train proposals for the preparation of the management plans. I envisage that consultants will be appointed to undertake the preparation of the management plans. The work of the consultants will be overseen by steering committees and I have invited the respective country managers or their nominees to be members of the committees. My officials are also in discussion with officials of the Office of Public Works in regard to the work to be carried out at the two sites in the interim. It is my wish that the direction of the management plans should not be influenced by the controversies of the recent past but that they should be carried out as objectively and as fairly as possible. The steering committee and the consultants will clearly not be able to ignore the existence of the partially completed structures at the Mullaghmore and Luggala sites but I do not wish to give any signals to them as to how I consider they should proceed. Pending the outcome of the consultation process, I have instructed the Office of Public Works, subject to obtaining the permission of the courts and after discussions with the Clare County Council to proceed with the clearing of the Mullaghmore site. This will initially involve the removal of building materials from the site, the dismantling of certain structural steelwork and the preparation of the remainder of the site for backfilling. I do not propose to proceed with the backfilling of the site until the outcome of the consultation process on the draft management plan and conservation strategy is known. This approach is being adopted so that if any proposals emerge from the study which are acceptable to the public and to Government we may yet be able to salvage some benefit from the previous investment in the site. In the meantime I have instructed the Office of Public Works to ensure that the site is safe and secure.
My officials will of course be presenting details of the interim proposals in relation to the Mullaghmore site to the High Court for its consent. In the interest of accuracy I should point out that while the High Court injunction of 12 February 1993 remains effective, the injunction of the 29 July 1993 lapsed following the judgment of Mr. Justice Lynch in the High Court on 8 June 1994. Therefore, the question of vacating the Order of 29 July 1993 does not now arise. The earlier injunction by Mr. Justice Costello still places a restraint on proceeding with development work at Mullaghmore as long as it remains unauthorised under the Planning Acts hence the need to seek the permission of the High Court to carry out any work at the site.