Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 May 1986

Vol. 112 No. 7

Adjournment Matter. - County Galway Group Water Scheme.

Mr. Killilea

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his very sincere endurance. I want to thank the Minister also. I welcome her to the Seanad and I wish her well in her new post. I am not saying that as a bribe. I am saying it as a fact.

I have before the House this evening a motion on the Adjournment on a very important matter for the community of Letterfrack. It is a motion concerning a problem that has arisen in our wonderful forest park which is under the jurisdiction of the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works.

It is a recent problem. I would like to give an outline of the situation first. A water tower exists on the property which is the forest park, and which prior to this was the borstal for bold children at one stage but which was given at that time by the Christian Brothers as a base for the water tower for the supply of the group water scheme to Letterfrack. It worked quite well and was very successful for many years. Due to the change in circumstances in that area in recent times, where many homes have been built, there is now a demand for approximately 100 houses extra on that group water scheme. It concerns the community of Letterfrack, Creggans and Dabhras Mór.

When they discovered that the pressure on the taps from that source was not good enough, it was suggested that they should increase the size of the tower. This was a costly proposition. After having many meetings about it and after having consultation with the county council on this matter they agreed that this was the best way to do it. They formally made an application to the Office of Public Works for permission to erect this tower. They thought they would have no problem whatsoever, but there was an objection concerning what the people of the community, who are a respectable community, found rather abnoxious to them. The Office of Public Works, because they would be interfering with a rare heather at the point adjacent to this tower, refused permission to use the site to bring water to serve those three communities.

It is all right for me to say it here, people might take it as a joke but I can tell Senators that the thousands of acres that are in that forest park are absolutely full of the same rare heather. It is not that rare in that part of the world, because there is very little else around but heather. They find it objectionable that they would be expected, at this juncture, to change the site of the proposed water tower because the cost of making the change would be excessive.

Loch an Oileán is the source for the regional group water scheme serving the Clifden area and west Connemara. It was suggested that they should bring the water from that Loch an Oileán source to Baunogues, which is three miles away, then take the water from the tower in Baunogues through the rocks of Connemara to bring it three miles to Letterfrack. I am making a very simple suggestion. I ask the Minister to reconsider this on the grounds of economics and on the grounds that I would not like the Office of Public Works to be held up to ridicule by suggesting that this little portion of ground on the diamond at the back of the centre alone has a rare heather. It is of great concern to the community at large in Letterfrack and about it that this nonsense should be brought to a halt. We must take into account that we are talking about a community of people, many of whom have no job, many families whose parents have no jobs and who are totally dependent on a tourist season and social welfare benefits and who find it hard to get the money involved to change the source of the water supply from the diamond to the position known as Baunogues three miles away. It is a very reasonable request to ask the Minister to review the situation, because no community in this country, particularly in that part of Connemara, have responded more to any project than that community of Letterfrack have responded to the opening of the national park.

There is a two way operation in all of this. The community have to respond to the demands from the tourist point of view. They have to give facilities, which they do willingly, from extra fine hotels down to bed and breakfast and camping sites. They have responded magnificently. Many people have opened up nice small businesses to add to their yearly financial reward by selling different types of crafts. This assists the community generally and runs parallel with the idea of a national park.

There may be an argument in the Office of Public Works that a tremendous amount of excavation would take place if this new tower were allowed on this diamond site. A few years ago the group water scheme involved taking out an old pipeline and putting in a new one. We are talking now about increasing the capacity of the tower. There is a right to the existing tower. That right can always be maintained. I do not see why the Minister could not reverse the Office of Public Works' decision, to allow a new tower to be built adjacent to the old site.

There can be a clause put into the contract that protection of the diamond be maintained. I would agree and the community would agree that the diamond should be protected, but surely a community living in co-habitation with the Office of Public Works in such a fine national asset should have a bit more cooperation on this matter.

The Department of the Environment might say that a regional scheme is the answer but we must remember that we are talking about a community who have very little other than tourist business in the summer months. If this summer is like last summer, we know how small that business will be. We are talking about a community who have not got the financial resources to pay the cost nowadays of blasting through rock, of laying down a whole new pipeline, plus a new tower when the great part of this scheme as regards the pipeline is completed. I would like to point out that the new Minister of State should, as a gesture towards the community, who play a role with the national park, allow this project to go ahead. That is a reasonable request.

The people of Connemara have, in general from a planning point of view over the years, suffered a great deal — I am talking about people who live in Connemara — from conservationists and An Taisce in particular. Galway County Council have tried to foster a certain amount of local interest that should come, not before conservation but as part of it. Yet we find that there is a lobby who do not live in this part of the world, but who have the rights under the Act to make appeals to An Bord Pleanála for planning permission for individuals who are born, bred, and trying to eke out a living in Connemara.

The community of Letterfrack and indeed the communities around the area take exception to the Office of Public Works giving the excuse that this little portion of ground contains all of that particular type of rare heather. This heather is to be found throughout the 10,000 acres of that national park. The community know that this is not a genuine excuse. I would not like to hear or read that the Office of Public Works would not play their part to help the community.

I want to thank the Minister for giving the property for the sculptors' week in September for a symposium. Sculptors from all over the island, and indeed from all over the Continent of Europe are displaying their art during this year. This was a wonderful achievement by the Arts Committee of the Galway County Council. They start there next weekend. The gesture towards that type of development in Connemara would be added to by at least the Office of Public Works providing for the community who live there this absolute necessity of running water in abundance.

I plead with the Minister that, no matter what the officials of the Office of Public Works may put in her portfolio this evening, the humane aspect and cooperative aspect must be taken into account. I do not know if she has had the privilege of visiting that national park yet, but I am sure she will be as impressed as her predecessors have been. I would not like her to come to Letterfrack and feel that the community would hold this little project against her or the officials of the Office of Public Works. I plead with her to allow the communities of Letterfrack, Creggans and Dabhras Mór to go ahead with this simple project. I thank the Minister for coming here this evening.

An Cathaoirleach

Rare heather and rare people.

Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Mrs. A. Doyle)

As there appears to be some misunderstanding about the reasons for establishing and maintaining Connemara National Park, I would like to deal in the first instance with the general concept of national parks which is relatively new to this country. The origin of national parks, of which there are now over one thousand around the world, is generally traced back to the establishment of Yellowstone National Park in the USA in 1872. With the spread of national parks the concept has been refined, particularly by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The union's criteria for the inclusion of areas in the United Nations' list of national parks and protected areas are accepted as international standards. These include the presence of outstanding natural features, extensive size, effective protection by central government authority and admission of visitors.

Many attempts have been made to define national parks concisely. The statement that a "national park exists to conserve interesting plant and animal communities and associated landscapes in their natural state, and, under conditions compatible with that purpose, to provide for appreciation of them by the visiting public" is suitable in the Irish context. It incorporates what has long been recognised as the two fundamental purposes of national parks, conserving natural features while providing for public enjoyment of them.

Connemara National Park is included in the "United Nations list of National Parks and Protected Areas" published by the IUCN. To retain its status as a national park it must continue to be managed in accordance with the criteria of the IUCN which I have outlined and which also provide that, in general, exploitation of the natural resources must be prohibited. Exploitation is defined as including agricultural and pastoral activities, hunting, fishing, lumbering, mining, public works construction and residential, commercial or industrial oocupation.

I might also remind the Senator — I thank him for his kind remarks at the outset to me personally, — that the policy in managing Connemara National park was also endorsed by Galway County Council Development Plan in 1978 which specifically mentioned the need for:

Control and restriction of all construction which would adversely affect the amenity and scenic quality of the park.

Mr. Killilea

What year was that?

Mrs. A. Doyle

1978. The siting in Connemara National Park of a 150,000 gallon reservoir with the necessary pipelines and access road would have a major detrimental impact on the park. The nature of the civil engineering works involved would be bound to cause serious, and for all practical purposes, irreversible damage to the park. The reservoir itself would, even if mounded over, form an obtrusive bulk on the sloping side of the scenic Diamond Mountain and the access road and route of the pipeline would disfigure the present unspoilt landscape. I do not have to explain to the Senator the particular attractions of Connemara National Park and the unspoiled aspect of it as being the major attraction.

Mr. Killilea

There is a water tower there.

Mrs. A. Doyle

Such a development would be totally unacceptable in a national park and if the Commissioners of Public Works were to allow it they would be negligent in their duty to protect the natural resources and to maintain Connemara as a recognised natural park. The existing reservoir was located on the lands prior to their acquisition for national park purposes and is small and unobtrusive whereas the proposed new reservoir is a very large structure. If the Senator wishes I can give the dimensions.

The Senator will note that I did not mention rare heathers once as being the reason the OPW could not comply with Galway Council's wishes. We can go into that in depth if the Senator wishes but it is not the case I am making to him today. It is purely on the basis of the criteria laid down internationally for national parks and their management and plans that I regret very much we cannot accede to the Senator's wishes and indeed the wishes of many people in Galway. I might add that my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy John Donnellan, has for many months been plaguing me and indeed my predecessor, Deputy Joe Bermingham on this very issue. Indeed, he made a very eloquent case for the local people as the Senator had this evening. As I outlined to him it is not possible, for the reasons given here today and given by the Minister of State, Deputy John Donnellan, on many occasions, to accede to that request.

While I am fully appreciative of the desirability of the proposed Letterfrack-Tullycross water supply scheme, I must emphasise that the solution to the problem must be found outside the confines of the national park. There are other sources of water available. Because of this decision I am aware that it may seem that the park is detrimental to local interests, but in fact quite the reverse is true. I totally refute the Senator's statement that the OPW are not doing their part to help the community. I put it to the Senator that their contribution — he refers to that in his statement——

Mr. Killilea

I said I would not like to see it.

Mrs. A. Doyle

I can assure the Senator that has never been the case and will never be the case so far as the Office of Public Works are concerned. I think the Senator will agree with me that the Office of Public Works involvement in the Connemara National Park has provided a major tourist attraction, if not the major tourist attraction, for the area, particularly for the people around the Letterfrack-Tullycross area.

The park is a very considerable asset to the area from the point of view of giving direct employment and as a tourist attraction. There are 19 full time employees in the park and approximately a further ten people are employed on a seasonal basis. The park attracts in the region of 30,000 to 40,000 visitors annually which, of course, generates increased income for local people engaged in the tourist industry.

Connemara National Park brings obvious benefits to the community and, if inappropriate development such as the reservoir were permitted, it could serve to jeopardise its future, particularly as a tourist attraction. There is a growing appreciation of the value of preserving special places such as national parks and an increasing interest in visiting heritage properties of all kinds. I am confident that in the years ahead the park at Letterfrack will be a major attraction not alone for Connemara but for the whole west of Ireland and that the action of the commissioners in taking the unpopular decision in regard to the reservoir will be seen as far-seeing and prudent.

The Seanad adjourned at 8.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 8 May 1986.