Vol. 457 No. 7
315 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for the Marine the plans, if any, he has to make a grant to Louth County Council under the coastal erosion programme; and if his attention has been drawn to the serious situation in a number of locations along the coast of County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16003/95]
Under the Operational Programme for Environmental Services 1994-99 some £5.1 million is being made available to help address the serious erosion problem around our coast. In order to achieve a best mix of works to be aided over the period of the programme, all coastal local authorities were invited to submit details of their top four protection priorities. Projects to be aided will be chosen from the local authorities priority proposals.
As I am sure the Deputy will appreciate, the total cost of all the proposals submitted far exceeds the funding available. Therefore, all coastal local authorities have been advised that there is no guarantee that any of their proposals will be aided.
This year over £700,000 is being invested under the programme to aid a number of the priority works identified by the coastal local authorities. Louth County Council is among a number of local authorities whose proposals have not been aided in 1995. Unfortunately, there is a limited amount of money available each year and therefore only a few schemes can be aided each year. I am aware of Louth County Council's priority proposals and I wish to assure the Deputy that there is no question of their proposals or indeed the proposals of other local authorities being ignored. The council's proposals will be considered further for aid over the remaining years of the Environmental Services Operational Programme.
