Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 24 Jun 1992

Vol. 133 No. 8

Adjournment Matters. - Matters of Concern to Members.

Mr. Fitzgerald

I ask the Leader of the House to convey to the Minister for the Marine the need to investigate, draw up plans and provide funding for a slipway at Bunaneer, close to where the Anascaul river flows into Dingle Bay at Anascaul, County Kerry. The parish of Anascaul has a population of about 1,000 people and the parish derives its name from the River Anascaul which flows into Dingle Bay at Bunaneer. By sea, Bunaneer is about 13 miles from Dingle and in that stretch of coastline there is only one landing place which is at Minard Castle. At Bunaneer there are five boats using the existing facilities, three of them to fish part time during the summer months. The only landing facility there is a channel cut into the rock which is believed to have been done at the time of the famine. During my lifetime local people have endeavoured to fish from here under extremely difficult conditions, and fishing time has been reduced because of a lack of reasonable facilities.

In the old days canoes were used which were easier to handle when it came to landing. Nowadays, bigger boats with engines find it almost impossible to land. A slipway here would be used to full advantage by the people of Anascaul thereby creating up to 20 jobs during the summer months or for at least five or six months of the year at lobster fishing. There is a coastline here of at least five miles where lobster fishing is not being exploited due to the lack of landing facilities.

The people in the parish of Anascaul are taking full advantage of tourism. They are also taking full advantage of the fact that this is where Tom Crean of the South Pole fame came to retire after his many exploits and expeditions and it is also the parish where the famous sculptor Mr. Jerome O'Connor was born. A slipway at Bunaneer would be an added amenity and a further boost to tourism for the people of Anascaul. Various organisations and individuals have been making representations to me for a number of years to try to get a reasonable job done at this location. I would now ask the Minister for the Marine to investigate and do a costing with a view to providing the necessary finance for this development.

Mr. Neville

I want to express my extreme disappointment at being informed yesterday, that the Department of the Environment have not considered upgrading the N69, the road between Limerick and Tarbert, to the status of a national primary route. I would like to thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for confirming this. It contradicts the recent announcement made by the Minister for Industry and Commerce, Deputy O'Malley, that the route would be upgraded and that this would mean that the development of the road would receive top priority in national policy in both national and EC funding. I now ask the Minister for the Environment, Deputy Smith, to immediately clarify the situation.

I was surprised to be informed by your good self that my request to the Minister for the Environment to confirm to Seanad Éireann that the N69 was being upgraded was refused as "a matter not suitable for discussion on the grounds of lack of ministerial responsibility". I am questioning this. You kindly invited me to discuss the situation in your office and informed me that there was no proposal from Limerick County Council for upgrading and that the Department had no responsibility.

Over the past six years, I and other Rathkeale councillors have proposed motions to Limerick County Council for improvements to the N69. There is a large file of correspondence on the issue and the views of the council on the matter have been conveyed to the Minister in more recent times — in November 1989 and in November 1990. The then Taoiseach was contacted on the matter in November 1990.

In the Limerick Leader of 13 June, a report referred to Minister O'Malley's statement:

Announcing that the road from the Dock Road at the city to Foynes is to be designated as a national primary, he said that funds to upgrade that road to the appropriate standard would be made progressively over a number of years.

The people of Limerick, who see the development of the potential of the estuary at Askeaton and Foynes as seriously inhibited by the condition of the N69, deserve immediate clarification of the issue. I am disappointed that the Minister for the Environment did not take the opportunity yesterday to do so.

The Seanad adjourned at 9 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 25 June 1992.