The Burren is an area of unique beauty and ecological and archaeological importance. The sensitive natural environment requires a high degree of protection. While the indigenous population is relatively static, the area attracts increasingly large visitor numbers. A sustainable tourism industry is of importance to its future economic well-being. This is dependent on the preservation of the Burren's unique qualities. This, in turn, requires management of development within the area. Adequate infrastructure is required within the existing population centres where water and waste water facilities are grossly inadequate. Clare County Council has submitted a plan to the Department of the Environment and is seeking Cohesion Funding from the European Union.
The population of the area is approximately 10,000. The necklace of towns includes Ballyvaughan, Belharbour, Corofin, Doolin, Ennistymon, Kilfenora, Lahinch, Liscannor and Lisdoonvarna. Of most importance however is tourist numbers. The nine towns mentioned can provide accommodation for 10,340 visitors which is fully utilised on many occasions during the summer.
Because of the lack of adequate infrastructure, pressure is being placed on rural areas in relation to development with more and more people applying to the county council for permission to build and to provide their own septic tank and water supply. This is an undesirable development and would not constitute good planning in an area such as the Burren.
There is a huge number of day trippers from outlying areas to various attractions within the Burren. There are no certain figures but the Cliffs of Moher attracted 680,000 visitors in 1993. The number has increased substantially since then. This would appear to indicate that the total number of visitors to the Burren is well in excess of one million. On any given day, therefore, the population of the towns mentioned would be in excess of 20,000. The area is visited by greater numbers each year.
Clare County Council sets out in its plan what is required and points out that there are inadequacies in eight of the nine settlements mentioned. There is only one reliable source of fresh water in north west Clare, Lickeen Lake, the source of water for Ennistymon, Lahinch, Liscannor and Kilfenora. It is proposed that a new regional water supply scheme, described in the application as the Lisdoonvarna water supply scheme, should be constructed based on the existing Ennistymon water treatment plant which treats raw water abstracted from Lickeen Lake and has some spare capacity.
One of the difficulties for the county council is that a huge number of the wells drilled have proved unsuccessful. The majority are saline wells while others have substantial traces of iron and magnesium which cannot be treated. In Doolin there is a proliferation of septic tanks and bored wells on half acre sites. This has health implications. In Lisdoonvarna, the country's busiest spa town, enormous difficulties are encountered, particularly in the month of September. An application was made for a new hotel in Ballyvaughan, which will have to be turned down. An extremely important development for the area, together with the prospects for jobs that would involve, will be lost.
Costings for the schemes have been set out in the proposal by the county council. The county engineer and his staff are to be complimented on putting this proposal to the Government. I understand that the application was forwarded to Brussels in November 1994 and that it has lain dormant since then. Matters have been raised on the Adjournment relating to other Cohesion Fund applications and difficulties have also arisen with them. There is funding available from the Cohesion Fund and I urge the Minister to act on the great interest in the Burren shown by many people, which thus far has had the effect of preventing development.
There was great interest in proposals for a national park and people urged that development be focused on the villages. That is however impossible in view of the current position. The Minister should pursue the matter vigorously with the European Commission to ensure that the Burren package is approved and development in an orderly fashion can proceed. Normally I would complain that the Minister is not in the House but I have raised this matter with him, directly and in the House, on about 50 occasions and I look forward to the response by the Minister of State, which I hope will be positive.
