Skip to main content
Normal View

Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Feb 2022

Vol. 1018 No. 4

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Irish Water

I hope the Minister of State, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, can address the important issues I raise. We learned today that thousands of people have been drinking water from rural supplies that are contaminated with E. coli, many of which are in my constituency of Mayo and also in Galway. Of the 380 group water schemes inspected, 20 were contaminated. When will the review of the funding and supports for water services in rural Ireland be finalised and acted upon?

I raised with the Tánaiste some weeks ago the plight of the dozens of families in Cleragh and Lisduff, just outside Kiltimagh, who were caught between Irish Water and Mayo County Council. Nothing has happened since. The problem is that Irish Water has basically issued an instruction to Mayo County Council that all connections and related works, including network extensions, must be delivered by Irish Water regional framework contractors and not by the local authority. All these families want is to be connected to the local treatment plant. Some €270,000 had been allocated and individual financial contributions have been agreed. Will the Minister of State confirm that either Mayo County Council can go ahead with the piping infrastructure or that Irish Water will at least allow the piping infrastructure to be provided in order that the families can be connected to the treatment plant when the upgrade is completed? Does Mayo County Council need explicit permission from Irish Water?

The Government is saying that housing is its priority but 20 social houses that are ready to be built in Kiltimagh cannot go ahead without the treatment plant upgrade. It makes a mockery of the town centre initiatives and the development of digital hubs when basic infrastructure is not even provided in these towns. What powers does the Minister have in relation to Irish Water? Can he instruct Irish Water to take action?

In Mayo, there are 16 schemes ready for takeover, ten of which have a legacy debt. The debt has accrued because of leaking due to the decades of neglect of the pipe infrastructure. Will the Minister ask the Commission for Regulation of Utilities to do the decent thing and write off the legacy debt so that these schemes can be taken over? These volunteers in the community are trying to run water schemes that have debts in some cases of more than €100,000 or €120,000. There is one in my area, the Pullathomas water scheme. This is not fair on volunteers in the community.

What in the name of God is going on with Irish Water with regard to farmers in Mayo and single farms, often comprising several small plots of land, which require water? The Minister of State knows the make-up of farms on marginal land in areas like Mayo. It is incredible that Irish Water is attempting to charge already struggling farmers for multiple water supplies. The same acreage in other parts of the country, with large commercial farms, is charged for one supply. Even more despicable is that Irish Water is refusing to appear before Mayo County Council to answer questions from directly-elected councillors, many of whom are from the Minister of State's party. Where did Irish Water get its mandate from? The Minister of State's councillors are being treated with contempt in Mayo when trying to get answers from Irish Water for their own constituents.

When Phil Hogan created Irish Water, he hardly meant to conceive an unaccountable monster but this is what Irish Water is turning into. We saw at the weekend a Government Minister struggle to get information from the HSE. Are we now in a similar position with Irish Water? The Government needs to hold Irish Water to account and pull it back. The Government is accountable to the people, including county councillors who are the elected representatives. We cannot afford to have another HSE that is unaccountable to the people. All we are asking is that basic water infrastructure be delivered for the people of Mayo and other counties. It is not happening through Irish Water.

I will take this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and providing me with the opportunity to address this matter.

I understand that Irish Water has taken in charge more than 170 group water schemes since it took over responsibility for public water services from the local authorities in January 2014. Irish Water is continuing with this process as schemes are upgraded and funded under the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage's rural water programme. The latest tranche of projects approved under the Department's multi-annual rural water programme was announced in October 2019.

Mayo County Council received approval for taking in charge of more than 50 schemes, with allocated funding of over €4.8 million. I understand the local authority has been actively completing the necessary work on these schemes and that 17 are currently with Irish Water at various stages of the taking in charge process. I also understand, however, that there are legacy financial concerns on some of these schemes, which need to be resolved. Irish Water and the local authority are actively working to resolve these issues. However, this will also require goodwill and a proactive approach by the schemes involved. Group water schemes are community owned and run.

They remain the full responsibility of the scheme until such time as they are formally taken in charge by Irish Water. An annual subsidy is available from the Department via the local authorities. This subsidy funds and supports the maintenance and operation costs of schemes providing water for domestic use, thus in turn facilitating their upkeep until such time as they are taken in charge.

To summarise, the taking in charge of group water schemes is co-ordinated by the relevant local authority. Local authorities submit taking in charge applications to Irish Water once works have been completed to bring the scheme up to the basic standard required. Irish Water will work to complete the processes as quickly as possible, engaging with the local authority, as required, but local communities also need to ensure that the legacy issues are resolved. I will bring the specific issues the Deputy has raised to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, after the debate.

I thank the Minister of State. When he referred to schemes and local communities, it is important to remember that we are talking about volunteers. We are not talking about the head of Irish Water and others who are paid huge amounts of money. Those involved are volunteers within their communities. They are tired and worn out, and need to resolve this issue. When the Minister of State says that they need to resolve any difficulties, they cannot pay money out of their own pockets to deal with legacy debt. If the legacy debt can be dealt with the schemes can be taken over. The legacy debt is holding everything up. I am afraid that the work will be done on the schemes and by the time the takeovers come around, systems will need to be upgraded. The work needs to happen now. What has to be done is time sensitive.

Regarding farmers, we cannot have a situation whereby small farmers are being charged for five or six connections just because the layout of their land covers five or six different plots. With the Minister of State please get Irish Water to go to before Mayo County Council and show a bit of respect for councillors and the mandate they have been given?

I will certainly raise the issue the Deputy has articulated with the Minister of State, Deputy Burke. I recall that when the issue of group water schemes being taken in charge was discussed in a previous Dáil, a lot of the issues raised by the Deputy I also raised as a Deputy on the Government side.

It is a pity that the Deputy's party was not as supportive of group water schemes when the abolition of water charges was raised. As she knows, people in group water schemes pay for water. When people were paying for water, this was an issue I raised, namely that if everybody paid something people on group water schemes would have to pay a lot less. Unfortunately, people on group water schemes and those who use wells have to pay for what the Deputy and I get for free because they have to do what the Deputy and I get for nothing. That could be different if we and everybody else had to pay a small bit.

People in west and north Mayo had to bring water to their areas because nobody else was going to do for them. Mayo County Council and the State would not have developed water schemes. These communities had to do that work themselves because nobody was going to do it for them. Well-sinkers had to do that work. They have been left with a legacy because they had to do the work themselves. This was the very issue I raised when we were debating water charges. I am glad the Deputy raised this issue because there is no such thing as free water, and I am glad she accepts the fact that there is no such thing as free water. I am glad that a speaker from Sinn Féin has accepted the fact that there is no such thing as free water.

On a point of order, the Minister of State is absolutely incorrect and he knows that. He is being mischievous.

He is being humorous.

I am glad the Deputy has accepted it.

He is being misleading.

I thank the Minister of State and Deputy for raising the matter.

Island Communities

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing us to speak about this very important issue. There was a shocking announcement at council level two weeks ago that the Dursey Island cable car service would be suspended for repairs from April to November this year. This affects residents on the island, farmers on the mainland who have cattle on the island and tourism. It affects the whole of Allihies, Eyeries, Ardgroom, Castletownbere and many parts of west Cork which depend on tourism.

Councillor Danny Collins put forward a motion at council last week which was fully agreed, namely to request the Minister for Rural and Community Affairs, Deputy Heather Humphreys, to come before the council to talk about a temporary solution that locals feel is not the greatest in the world, that is, a ferry service. In the past two weeks nothing that I know of has happened. At a council meeting yesterday there was no contact from the Minister. I would appreciate if the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, could tell us if the Minister will meet council officials, local public representative and locals to find a solution for Dursey Island.

I cannot understand why the cable car has to be closed for so long because in 1967 it was built in one month for £14,000. It will take eight months to repair it. We have cranes and helicopters in today's world, which were not available in 1967. Why will it take so long? On average, 200 tourists use the cable car every day. There are 50 cows and 600 sheep on the best of land. There are 1,432 acres of land there. There is a spill-off on the Kerry side to Lauragh, Kilmackillogue, Helen's Bar and Bed and Breakfast, Kenmare and south Kerry. It will be a massive loss. It was a fierce attraction for the entire area at the mouth of Kenmare Harbour.

Dursey cable car is more than just a form of transport. Fáilte Ireland uses it in all of its promotional material to sell Ireland across Europe. It is also, more importantly, a lifeline for the eight farmers who keep livestock on Dursey Island. Lambing and calving season is upon us. These farmers need to get across to their livestock. It is an animal welfare issue. Cork County Council has taken the decision to close the cable car on 31 March until November. That is almost nine months.

Deputy Healy-Rae is absolutely right. When the cable car was built in the 1960s, pickaxes and shovels were used to erect the towers. I cannot understand why the work will take so long. I would love for the Department to work with Cork County Council to examine two things: one, whether there is any chance measures can be put in place to strengthen the towers for the next couple of months so that farmers can access the island during calving and lambing season; and two, which is absolutely vital, that funding would be provided for a ferry service when the cable car inevitably closes.

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys. I am aware of the concerns expressed by the residents of Dursey, the farming community which has animals on the island and those that promote tourism in the region regarding the recent decision by Cork County Council to withdraw the existing cable car service to Dursey Island in order to carry out maintenance works.

It is important to note that the provision, management and upkeep of the cable car is a matter for Cork County Council. It owns and operates the existing cable car service and is responsible for ensuring mainland connectivity for the island, residents and those who require access to farmland during the period of maintenance. I understand the recent decision to withdraw the cable car service was taken without any prior consultation with the island residents, island representative groups or the Department of Rural and Community Development. This is not how a local authority should carry out its business.

If this service was going to be withdrawn due to essential maintenance, there should have been consultation with the local community and, equally important, engagement with the Department. When maintaining any infrastructure such as roads, bridges or, in this case, a cable car, the local authority is responsible for providing alternative routes to minimise any access disruptions. It is the responsibility of Cork County Council to provide the residents of Dursey Island and all others dependent on the service with an alternative temporary service from the island to the mainland while these maintenance works are being carried out.

The Minister is disappointed that Cork County Council did not see fit to engage with, or provide any prior notification to, her Department about its intention to announce the closure of the cable car. It would have been preferable to have that engagement, and a solution and alternative arrangement in place, before Cork County Council announced that the cable car was to close. It is a pity that did not occur to anybody in Cork County Council, and I am sure the three Deputies will concur with that based on what they said.

I assure the Deputies that the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is keen to try to find a solution. The Minister understands the urgency of the situation. Her officials are engaged and will continue to engage with Cork County Council and the island representatives to seek a resolution to the issue. I spoke to the Minister before I came into the Chamber. She is prepared to make herself available to see how a solution can be accommodated for this issue. She understands the urgency and sensitivity around this and, as Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan said, how iconic the Dursey Island cable car is. I was previously Minister of State with responsibility for tourism and I know that Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland use the Dursey cable car on many iconic images. The manner in which this has taken place is regrettable. Hopefully, with the correct form of engagement with the Department and the local representatives on Cork County Council, a way forward can be found.

I thank the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, for a forthright response.

No, no. It is very welcome.

Hear, hear. Very unusual.

I thank the Minister of State for a detailed response. He is right that there was no consultation, even with the council. This decision must have been made well in advance of the announcement two weeks ago, considering where we are. We need to find a solution. Would the Minister of State believe that since last Friday, islanders have been left without electricity? No one is speaking on behalf of the islands here anymore. I respect that the Minister of State is here. He has often come to west Cork. The Minister for Rural and Community Development should be here today to talk to us and give us her point of view on what she intends to do. Residents have been let down badly. Yesterday, officials told them to get boats themselves and to find their own way over with their cattle. That is an astonishing situation. I plead with the Minister of State to plead with the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to come to west Cork to meet the council and the residents. They are honest residents who have not caused any problems or even held a public meeting, because they expect that the political system will resolve this issue. It is not happening at this moment. They need a ferry service. A temporary service is not the greatest solution, which they accept, but it would at least be some sort of solution. I would appreciate if the Minister of State would tell us if the Minister will come to meet officials and public representatives.

I thank the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, for a positive response and outlining how they feel about it. We are asking for a ferry and that the structure be repaired sooner. The waters are treacherous, especially when the tide comes in. If ordinary people use boats, lives could be lost. When the tide comes in, it swings to the left, and when it is going out, it swings to the right. It is a serious matter. We are close to the people of Dursey Island. It is part of history and it is part of the tourism product that we are selling. There are three holiday homes and three guesthouses. Will we close them all? Farmers cannot get in and out. They need to go in and out daily. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to speak.

Cork County Council should have acted faster on this. It knew that the towers were deteriorating and that corrosion was happening. It should have acted before this. The Minister of State probably knows west Cork as well as anyone in this Chamber. He frequents it often. He knows that Dursey Island is about as far from Dublin as one can get in Ireland. It is on the western periphery of Europe. However, for the people of the Beara Peninsula and the farmers who farm on Dursey Ireland, it is the centre of the universe. They feel forgotten about. They have been without electricity for the last five, six or seven days, and they feel forgotten about. We need to act. I ask the Minister of State to ask the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to meet me personally so that we can try to find a solution for access to Dursey Ireland for the residents, the farmers, and even for tourists.

In the Minister's original response, it is clear that whether by cable car or by boat, Cork County Council has a responsibility to provide access to the island. It is not acceptable to just cut it. Cutting it without consultation is not acceptable. It is the statutory authority that is obliged under the law, which we passed in this House, to provide access to that island for those islanders and farmers. We as legislators are required to ensure that the local authority carries out those statutory responsibilities. We expect that from local authorities. To do that without consultation is not good enough, which the Minister has clearly stated in her response. She also states in her response that her officials are available. She is also available to make sure that a solution can be found. She is not here this evening because she had a prior family engagement. I made myself available to take part in this debate.

I know that part of west Cork. Deputy O'Sullivan is right that I am no stranger to west Cork. If I represented that part of the country, whether south Kerry or west Cork, I would not find it acceptable to just cut a road or access to an island. It is not good enough. Those people, whether they are residents or farmers, deserve the same level of access, consultation and co-operation from their local authority, whether by a cable car, road or boat. They deserve a level of respect from their local authority. They pay road tax, rates and tax. They should have got a level of co-operation from their local authority and the fact that they did not is not good enough, which is what the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is saying. It is the job of Cork County Council and it needs to do it. The Minister's officials will make sure that happens. They have to make sure that provision is made to get people safely to Dursey Island.

Separately, there is a planning process that runs in parallel to make sure that a cable car can function into the future. Separately to that, there is a group of people who have objections to that planning process. They follow us around in the Office of Public Works. We have to respect the planning process. I will take all of the comments that the three Deputies have made with respect to access to Dursey Island to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and I am sure she will reply to them collectively.

It seems to me that the chief executive of Cork County Council should be answering and accountable in this case, first and foremost, as distinct from any Minister.

That is in the Minister's response to this as well.

I thank the Deputies for bringing the matter to the attention of the House and the Minister of State for dealing with it.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and the Minister of State.

Tourism Promotion

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, for taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin. I would have preferred if she was here. Nevertheless, I know he will carry the messages to her. I slightly refined the message from the Topical Issue matter to say that clearly this office will not close. It seems that Fáilte Ireland will open it for what it determines to be the relevant part of the season, which is June to September. Fáilte Ireland lacks ambition and vision in this, despite its excellent work in marketing our country and in tourism and product development through the years. I do not like to see an organisation like this beginning to move away from being public-facing. If we are going to limit our tourism activities, marketing and tourism information points with trained, expert tourism personnel dealing with the public, I would assume that we are a different country, with some sort of Mediterranean climate, where all the tourism will be coming to our beaches in June, July and August. Of course, that is not our product. What about historical, cultural, sports, archaeological, adventure, activity, music or nature tourism? We need to market all of these all year round.

In the last full year of tourism, we had about 3.6 million first-time visitors to Ireland, with about 5.2 million visitors in total. We are bad at repeat tourism. The key to successful business is repeat custom and holding on to one's customer. One does that in tourism by embracing what is known as place-bonding. People have bonded to a place. They want to go back to Newcastle West in Limerick, Kildare, Sligo or Dublin because they have had personal interaction with professionals.

We are bad at repeat business. Less than one third of our custom in tourism comes back to us. Repeat visitors are where people power and people interaction help to build place bonding.

Another thing we dismiss is the need for people to interact. I will quote from a publication by Fáilte Ireland. Regarding our domestic market, it states "the high existing level of domestic tourism consumption by Irish residents, limits the potential for further growth from domestic demand". In other words, we ignore it. This is also a fool's errand because we export 40 million bed nights per year. I would like to have a few of those in the Ceann Comhairle's County Kildare, the Minister of State's County Limerick and my county, Sligo, and that takes work. We need public-facing offices, not automated machines. Nobody went or returned to Disneyland based on an overwhelming online welcome. It is personal interaction that the Irish céad míle fáilte, a hundred thousand welcomes, is based on. Fáilte Ireland, despite its brilliant work for which it is globally famous, is now putting its back to the public and deciding that we have "seasonality", which limits the potential and lacks the vision and ambition of Seán Lemass's setting up of the regional tourism organisations in 1964, under the second economic plan, with T. K. Whitaker. Why are we pulling back from that vision now? Why are we seeking to put this online?

I want the Minister of State to relate to the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, the fact that in our region in particular, the north west, tourism is the sector with the most growth potential and the opportunity to produce jobs and revenue faster.

I thank Deputy MacSharry for raising this issue. I am taking this Topical Issue matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin.

I should clarify the respective roles of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and its agency Fáilte Ireland in respect of national tourism development. The Department's role lies primarily in the area of national tourism policy development and in securing resources to assist the tourism agencies in implementing that policy. In line with its tourism development remit, Fáilte Ireland is responsible for developing and promoting the tourism potential of the various counties and regions around the country.

The operation of tourism information offices is a matter for Fáilte Ireland. Historically, Fáilte Ireland has provided tourism information to visitors mainly through a network of fixed buildings known as tourism information centres. Pre-Covid, Fáilte Ireland had commenced a review of how it shares tourism information nationwide with visitors, both online and in person. The review identified a need and an opportunity for Fáilte Ireland to introduce a new and comprehensive plan in response to changing consumer behaviours, digital trends and declining visitor numbers to tourism information offices. In transforming how it distributes tourism information to visitors, Fáilte Ireland's new plan is responding to the global digital demand.

Expanding the reach of Fáilte Ireland's tourism information in Sligo will directly boost the local economy and opportunities for all local businesses. Some 85% of visitors to the tourism information centre in Sligo are international, with the majority of the footfall during the busy four-month summer season from June to September. Therefore, a decision was taken to operate the tourism information centre in Sligo seasonally, from June to September, from 2022. The new plan focuses on expanding the range of tourism information. This will be done through maximising local digital information and resources on discoverireland.ie and installing a number of local high-impact tourism information kiosks in a number of high-footfall Sligo locations, including Mammy Johnston's, Strandhill, and Johnston Court Shopping Centre. The Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, understands that discussions are ongoing with Sligo County Council and industry stakeholders on additional tourism information kiosks. A significant map distribution network will also be established, with an unprecedented countrywide reach, in addition to a call centre, which will be operational seven days a week.

In 2022 Fáilte Ireland will also relaunch a successful local experts programme, including the Sligo local experts programme. This programme empowers front-line tourism and hospitality staff to promote their local areas to visitors. There will also be a significantly enhanced web presence for Sligo town and County Sligo, with 319 attractions, activities and places currently listed on discoverireland.ie. This content is managed by Fáilte Ireland's tourism information centre staff.

Investment in tourism in County Sligo is at an all-time high, from private investors to public investment by Fáilte Ireland and other agencies in a new surf centre in Strandhill and beach facilities at Rosses Point and Inniscrone. This investment in Sligo will significantly enhance the overall visitor experience and provide new business opportunities in the local community.

I will bring the points Deputy MacSharry has raised to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, after the debate.

I acknowledge that the Minister of State is answering on behalf of the Minister.

If Fáilte Ireland decides to open the office for only three weeks, the footfall will be there for only three weeks. I am ambitious for our country. I am ambitious for Newcastle West, Limerick, Kildare, Sligo, Donegal and every other place. We are open 365 days a year, 12 months of the year. One would swear from the response the Minister of State read out that this is all about beaches. Of course, we have those in many places in Ireland. Certainly, in Sligo we have them in abundance. The Minister of State mentioned Strandhill, where I live. We also have an awful lot of other attractions but, as an organisation, Fáilte Ireland has decided there is no point in opening the office except for a couple of months in the summer.

There is another thing I wish to take issue with. The Minister of State said that "the Department's role lies primarily in the area of national tourism development and in securing resources" in that regard. I know this is not necessarily the Minister of State's fault but increasingly, Ministers stand up in here and say something is an operational matter for the Garda, Fáilte Ireland, the Higher Education Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland - everybody but the Government. In my 20 years in the Houses of the Oireachtas, I cannot be called crazy for asking the question, what is it governments do now? Are they merely the communications unit for State agencies and senior civil servants? If I know one thing, it is that the people who voted for the Minister of State, the Ceann Comhairle, me and others sent us up here to try to have some level of influence on policy in order that the public and the people who pay our wages might identify and feel some sense of ownership of the national policy platform borne out of their lived experience and suggestions in life. I am not sure tonight's response captures that.

The Deputy answered his last question himself. He asked what the Government's role is and if it relates to policy. I answered that question. The first sentence in my initial response was that the role of the Department relates primarily to policy. I am a former Minister of State in the Department with responsibility for tourism. The role of the Department is the formulation of policy and Fáilte Ireland's role is as a national vehicle for the implementation of policy. Tourism Ireland's role is as a vehicle for the delivery of policy internationally on a cross-Border basis. The Minister's role is not the direction of day-to-day traffic within Fáilte Ireland. The Minister's role relates primarily to legislation, policy and, on an annualised basis, the drawing down of Exchequer funds to make sure Fáilte Ireland can deliver to Strandhill, Rosses Point, Inniscrone, Sligo town and all the other towns and villages. If the Minister were not focused on that, I am sure Deputies such as Deputy MacSharry would have something entirely different to say. If he were to say that the Minister was micromanaging Fáilte Ireland, we would all have something entirely different to say in that the Minister could be accused of managing four mice at the crossroads. That is not the role of the Minister. It is not the role of the Minister to grease parish pumps. It is the role of the Minister to outline a vision for the development of tourism over a five-year, ten-year or 15-year period to make sure that the maximum number of people visit this country internationally and, in the first instance, nationally, that the greatest number of people possible can get employment around the country and that we can have the greatest amount of economic benefit from that as is possible. Looking over recent years and successive Ministers with responsibility for tourism, that is where our primary focus has been. It is not fair that the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, should be criticised for just doing her job.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar athló ar 9.20 p.m. go dtí 9.12 a.m., Dé Céadaoin, an 23 Feabhra 2022.
The Dáil adjourned at 9.20 p.m. until 9.12 a.m. on Wednesday, 23 February 2022.
Top
Share