Lahinch is one of the towns designated under the special resorts scheme announced by the Minister for Finance in the budget. Last year, during the life of the previous Government I made representations to former Minister for Tourism and Trade, Deputy McCreevy, in regard to Lahinch and I pointed out the infrastructural difficulties would have to be addressed. These were included in a proposal from Clare County Council for cohesion funding under the Burren and north Clare scheme.
In the meantime, Lahinch has been successful in starting a major sea world project which will bring huge benefits to the town but which will also increase the pressure on its infrastructure. A large number of developments are proposed or are under consideration and many of them are at the planning stage with Clare County Council, where a logjam has developed.
The developers have been making representations to Members and others. We have the classic case of County Council saying it is not within its remit and that it would not have the capital resources to deal with the problem while the Department appears to lay the responsibility at the door of the local authority. That is extremely frustrating for the developers. I am trying to establish that it is the responsibility of the Department to deal with this problem and that any confusion between the Department and the county council should be cleared up. Naturally, the developers are concerned since it is a pilot scheme, there is little time to avail of funding and no progress has been made.
The Lahinch scheme, which is included in the Burren-north Clare cohesion scheme, will cost £3.5 million and is the third project under that scheme. Obviously, it will not be reached for a long time but officials of the county council indicated that with goodwill and a decision to proceed quickly, it would allow the development.
To understand the scale of the problem at Lahinch, one must bear in mind that the existing treatment plant, such as it is, was constructed to cater for a population of 560 people. During 1995, the population of Lahinch was about 5,000, not including day visitors. Obviously, the population far exceeds the infrastructural provision. In an attempt to get over the logjam, the county council has suggested an interim measure which would cost about £250,000 and that proposal has been put to the Department. Unfortunately, there has not been any indication that any progress has been made.
Obviously, for a town like Lahinch which has enjoyed and wishes to continue to enjoy blue flag status this is a serious matter and those people who do a great deal of voluntary work are more than anxious to hold on to that status. In addition, these developments would breathe life into the town. They are the sort of developments which were envisaged under the scheme. An extraordinary amount of development is proposed. At present, planning permission is awaited for the construction of approximately 180 houses or chalets and other houses are ready to proceed. There are proposals to erect 20 to 30 apartments, an extra 50 hotel bedrooms and a number of retail outlets. Obviously, jobs would be created in the short-term in construction and in the long-term, the quality of tourist accommodation at Lahinch and the facilities in the resort would be much improved if these developments go ahead. I urge the Minister to resolve the difficulty between the county council and the Department and ensure that at least in the short-term the county council gets the go ahead to do the relatively minor works it proposes. He should ensure that the Burren and north Clare cohesion scheme, which also includes Lisdoonvarna's water and sewerage scheme, is expedited at European level and is given the go ahead.
