Vol. 478 No. 2
74 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht whether the position of the visitors facilities at Corofin, Kilfenora and so on in north Clare is dependent on the granting of permission for the proposed entry point at Gortlecta, Mullaghmore, by Clare County Council.[10856/97]
As indicated in the Burren National Park Study, the provision of a visitor facility confined to parking, toilets and staff accommodation in the form of an entry point to the Burren National Park at Gortlecka is seen as an integral component of a broad strategy which envisages the provision of presentation and interpretative facilities at Corofin and Kilfenora as well as at Ballyvaughan.
The entry point, being such an integral part of this strategy, is deemed necessary to its overall implementation. Therefore, upon receipt of planning permission I will be in a position to formally confirm the strategy outlined in the plan. However, it is clear that failure to obtain planning permission would impact significantly on the integrity of the holistic approach of the strategy as currently envisaged and, should this prove to be the case, would require having to ask the steering committee to propose amendments to the management plan before its adoption.
In the meantime, discussions on the nature and extent of the presentations at Corofin and Kilfenora are being progressed with representatives of both communities.
75 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht whether the contract for the proposed interpretative centre at Mullaghmore, County Clare was signed by a former Minister on the same date that Justice O'Hanlon granted a judicial review to the plaintiffs of the Burren Action Group on 3 December 1992 in view of the fact that the Justice had agreed that valid legal points had been raised regarding the statutory authority of the Office of Public Works to construct interpretative centres; and the reason State and EU funding was committed to a development which was potentially illegal and was subsequently proved to be so in view of the recent EU decision to clawback EU funding granted for the developments carried out to date on the proposed interpretative centre. [10857/97]
The EU is not seeking a refund of the moneys allocated for the Burren National Park visitor centre project on the grounds of any illegality attaching to the work at the site but on the grounds that the project has not been completed as originally envisaged.
