Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 12 Oct 1995

Vol. 456 No. 8

Adjournment Debate. - Inishbofin (Galway) Harbour Development.

Éamon Ó Cuív

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghlacadh leis an Aire as ucht teacht isteach agus éisteacht liom.

I wish to raise the issue of the need for dredging in Inishbofin Harbour. As the Minister is aware, considerable money was spent a few years ago in providing a new pier for the island. However, due to silting in the harbour, it is not possible to bring ferry boats to the pier at low tide. Furthermore, Inishbofin Island is in the happy position of having sheltered inner harbour. Unfortunately, over the years the inner harbour has become silted as well. As a result, boats which have safe berthage there during the winter cannot be left there.

It is, to the best of my knowledge, illegal for a ferry operator to tranship people to a pier by rowing boat or punt. However, this practice is now common on Inishbofin if one wants to run a regular service to the island because it is not possible to enter the pier at low tide. If an accident happened, questions would be asked about why people are using methods which do not comply with normal safety regulations. However, the Minister and the Department have left them without a choice.

I have raised this matter time and again with the Department by letter and by representations because I appreciate its urgency. I have pointed out that safe access to the harbour and the pier is as important to the islanders as roads are to people on the mainland. It is no good having a road within a half or a quarter of a mile of one's house if one cannot bring a car to it. It is no good being able to get within a few hundred yards of the pier if one cannot land on it. To return to the days when tidal services were operated is to return to the time when nothing could be scheduled by the clock. I am glad that type of life has gone from the islands.

The islanders, like everyone else, want to be able to keep appointments and have regular services. If we are serious about keeping people on the islands, the need for regular good services from pier to pier on all the islands is a prerequisite. It baffles me why, having spent over £1 million on a pier, this dredging was not done a long time ago. I also ask the Minister to ensure that a protective wall is provided on the pier in Inishbofin.

I hope the Minister in his reply does not refer me to the interdepartmental committee which has been sitting since 1993. This is a matter of routine maintenance; it does not need an interdepartmental committee. With the onset of winter and the importance of good access, I hope the Minister will tell me that he has made arrangements to provide safe berthage for boats in the inner harbour to protect them from winter storms and to provide safe access to the new pier in Inishbofin.

Minister for the Marine (Mr. Barrett)

I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for raising this matter. I intend to try to steer him in the right direction so that those who are responsible for carrying out this work will do it. The harbour authority in Inishbofin is Galway County Council.

Éamon Ó Cuív

The Minister has not given any money.

Mr. Barrett

It is the responsible body for maintenance works and for development of the harbour.

In 1991, engineering staff of the Department of the marine completed a pier extension on Inishbofin for the central development committee of the Department of Finance at a total cost of over £1.3 million. I assume the mantle of that committee has now passed to the islands committee chaired by my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach with responsibility for Western Development and Rural Renewal, Deputy Carey.

On 14 February this year, two questions were asked. The first one was:

"To ask the Minister for the Marine the proposals, if any, he has to carry out dredging near the pier in Inishbofin in view of the fact that this new pier cannot be approached by the passenger ferries at low tide."

The second question was:

"To ask the Minister for the Marine the proposals, if any, he has to erect a protecting wall on the upper part of the new pier in Inishbofin in view of the fact that it is very dangerous in its present condition."

The following reply was given:

The harbour authority at Inishbofin is Galway County Council, and the works requested are a matter for that local authority in the first instance. My Department will provide engineering assistance if requested by Galway County Council.

Galway County Council did avail of that offer and on 19 June of this year, a copy of the engineer's report was forwarded to the Secretary of Galway County Council. I quote from the covering letter:

You will note that he has recommended that a hydrographic survey should be carried out to ascertain the extent of dredging required and the changes in the bed since the works and previous survey due to littoral drift. Sanction of £5,000 would be required for this survey which should be done to give a proper estimate of the dredging costs and likely maintenance period.

In the absence of a hydrographic survey our engineer estimates that circa. 4000 cubic metres of cobbles and sand would need to be removed to give the required depth in the approach and berthage. This would cost in the order of £130,000. It is likely that the dredged area would refill with migrating littoral material. To maintain the area would require scheduled maintenance dredging perhaps every ten years on average, depending on prevailing weather.

Regarding the requested wall, he states that it would be feasible to provide a storm wall on the pier deck. This would make the west side of the pier unusable as serviced berthage. The usage pattern of the pier and the cargo/passenger marshalling system would require a study to find the most suitable location for the wall. He has estimated that such a wall in reinforced concrete would cost approximately £20,000.

With regard to the development of this pier, I must inform you that very limited funding is available to the Department over the next six years for fishery harbour development. This funding will only be made available for development projects resulting in significant economic or stategic benefits. This is in relation to fishing. In view of this it is unlikely that any funding can be made available for the development of Inishbofin.

As the harbour is not a Gaeltacht Harbour perhaps the County Council would consider making representations for funding to The Islands Committee.

As can be seen considerable technical support has been afforded Galway County Council by my Department. I have no general responsibility for harbours on offshore islands and accordingly have no funding available to me for that purpose.

In so far as the development sought on Inishbofin was for fisheries purposes it could be eligible for aid from the Fishery Harbours Development Programme being funded from the Operational Programme for Fisheries. With only £1.5 million per annum available for all fishery harbours from now to the end of 1999 however it is unlikely that I would be in a position to contribute to any fisheries element of the development on Inishbofin.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.25 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 17 October 1995.