Minister, I welcome you to the House. It is my first time to meet you here. I call on Senator Ross.
Adjournment Matters. - Proposed Marina for Greystones, County Wicklow.
With the permission of the House, may I share my time with Senator Roche, in the absence of any objection from the assembled multitude?
Is that agreed? Agreed.
When I bring up this subject I cannot help wondering what the people of Greystones ever did to successive Governments of this country. They are ordinary, law abiding and peaceful people, but for some reason they are neglected, kicked around and treated in a way in which no other town in north County Wicklow is treated.
Greystones has been looking, with a modesty characteristic of the inhabitants of the town, for the DART for many years and no Government has given it to them, for reasons only known to the Government. The town was left out in the seaside resorts pilot scheme which was announced by the Government in the budget, again for reasons which are only known to the Government and it has only at last managed to achieve a civilised, modern sewerage scheme, which any town in Ireland is entitled to in the 20th century. In addition, Greystones has been looking for one or two other things and I am asking the Minster to hasten the process whereby the town becomes more prosperous and whereby the marina, which was proposed as far back as 1987, is hurried up, thereby giving the long suffering people of Greystones a break, and prosperity.
In 1987-88 a study was commissioned by the county council on the feasibility of a marina for Greystones. This study had two purposes. The first was to promote tourism and the second was to solve the problems associated with Greystones harbour. The commission, undertaken by McCabe Delaney, architects, made very strong recommendations that a marina should be installed in Greystones and that this was in the interests of the people of the town. Following this, the county development team proceeded to make presentations to the county council and to the town commission strongly recommending this project. It was approved by both bodies at a public meeting afterwards and was overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of Greystones.
Discussions then proceeded with various companies, and with one in particular, which broke down, and in 1993 Kirkham Enterprises entered into negotiations with the county council and the Department of the Marine on the possibilities of establishing a 400 berth marina and which would have a hotel, a leisure centre, residencies and a retail unit.
Unfortunately, although this project would provide at least 200 full time jobs to Greystones, negotiations appear to have broken down and my problem is to find out exactly why and how they have broken down and to ask the Minister to do everything he can to hasten them. Agreement in principle has been made with the county council, but no planning application is before the council, because no such application can be put to it until the foreshore licence has been agreed with the Department. I understand that a land swap has been agreed in principle with the county council, but the problem is the difference in price for these foreshore licences between the Department and the developer or proprietor — or whatever one may wish to call him—Mr. Albert Gubay, who has been considering the matter very seriously.
I make a plea to the Minister to relieve this terrible log jam, to hasten up the procedure — discussions have gone on for far too long — and to give the boost to Greystones, the most neglected and forgotten town in north County Wicklow, which it so badly needs.
I thank Senator Ross for sharing his time with me. I am in a rather unique position, because many years ago, as a young civil servant, I worked in the section——
That is an oxymoron.
——of the then Department of Transport and Power which issued the foreshore licences. At that time foreshore licences were issued freely and the idea of charging for them is a relatively new one. The problem with this case, however, is that the Department does not seem to see any urgency whatsoever in coming forward with foreshore licences and we have hit a log jam which needs to be released.
The proposal to build a 400 berth marina in Greystones is a very good one and it has been put before the town commission and accepted unanimously. It has also been supported unanimously by the county council. Most importantly, the proposition was brought before the people of Greystones when there was an enthusiastic support for it at a public meeting, which, as then chairman of the town commissioners, I had the honour to chair.
It is important that the entire project be proceeded with. At one time, Greystones was a very prosperous tourism town when there were seven hotels operating in and around the town. It had a tremendous and vibrant tourism trade from the North of Ireland. All of this died in the 1950s and 1960s when sun tourism came in and in the 1970s the final coup de grace was given to tourism in Greystones by the troubles in the Six Counties.
The situation pertaining today is that the town has grown, but there is one major resource which is undeveloped and completely neglected, the Greystones harbour. The harbour has been kept in situ for the past 30 years by voluntary effort through the town's civic association. Over the past number of years the harbour has taken a huge battering from the elements and the harbour itself, the harbour wall, the outer wall and the inner breakwater are almost completely wiped away.
What is required to preserve the harbour and to use and develop this facility, for the economic, social and recreational benefit of the town is the kind of development proposed by the developer in this case. It would undoubtedly bring a considerable number of jobs into the town at the stage of development and it would be of great benefit, especially on the north beach area of Greystones, in that it would it prevent a degree of coastal erosion which is both a danger and a cost to public funds at present. However, above all else, it would give us a new tourism product from which the whole of north east County Wicklow would benefit.
In the circumstances it is extraordinary that one of the problems appears to have been with the Department of the Marine. Part of the Department's remit was that the whole issue of marine recreation would be developed. It was to be a forward looking and progressive remit, yet the Department appears to have taken the view that this case is a revenue item. I am sure this is a view which is not shared by the Minister of State or the Minister and that it is probably dictated by the Department of Finance. In view of this, will the Minister use his good offices to break such log jams as exist in order to allow this project to proceed, because venture capital is a very fluid commodity and if a firm has the capital for a project at a specific time it will not wait around?
As Senator Ross pointed out, there is one other blow which has been struck at Greystones recently in terms of tourism and development — for a reason I cannot accept because no adequate explanation has been put forward — which is that Greystones, Arklow and Bray have been excluded from the traditional seaside resort tax break announce in the budget. Between the money which the Department of the Marine is seeking and the money and benefits which are denied to us by the decision in the budget, we are being penalised in a way which is quite unacceptable. I therefore ask the Minister to use his good offices in his Department to resolve this matter and let a worthwhile and progressive development go ahead.
An application for a lease of foreshore for a marina, apartments and support facilities in Greystones, County Wicklow, was received in the Department last September. Drawings showing the concept and proposed occupation and reclamation of the foreshore have been furnished.
Before proceeding with a departmental examination of the proposal, the applicant requires a budget figure for the cost of leasing or purchasing the foreshore areas—purchase is not an immediate option. The Department is advised on rental matters by the Valuation Office, which has been consulted in this case. Before producing its rental figure, the Valuation Office has requested additional information relating to the detailed works which will be carried out on the foreshore if the project proceeds. This information is awaited from the applicants. When this information is received and passed to the Valuation Office it should then be possible to furnish a rental for the foreshore being sought by the applicants. At this point the applicants would have to decide whether they wish the Department to continue with a detailed examination of the proposals.
This examination will consist of technical assessment of the project from engineering, navigational, environmental and other aspects. Local authority planning permission will also be required. I understand that the local authority is looking at the project favourably. If the project receives a positive technical assessment in the Department, a public consultation process will be by advertisement in the newspapers. There is also a possibility that an environmental impact statement may be required.
In summary, the up to date position for this proposal is that additional information is awaited from the promoter of the project. A time scale for examination of the foreshore aspects of this project can be furnished following completion of the promoter's own assessment of the project's economic viability and their decision to proceed. I assure the Senators that when that information is furnished to the Department the matter will be expedited. I will take a personal interest in ensuring that that happens.
I thank the Minister of State for his helpful reply. Could he give me a time scale, provided that the applicants produce the information which he is quite reasonably looking for? He stated that a technical assessment has to be made from "engineering, environmental and other aspects", which suggests a long time. Could he give me an indication of how long it will take the Department to make a decision after the information is received?
I am reluctant to give a specific time scale but I have undertaken to produce one when the information is received. It will then be possible to assess the likely length of time needed for the various technical, environmental and other assessments. As soon as that information is received we will be in a position to give an outline of the time which will be involved.
Can I ask——
In fairness, the Senator has had a good innings; it is not a question and answer time for the Minister.
I just wanted to make——
The Senator has done very well.
I wish to make the point that there seems to be some misinformation in the Minister of State's reply which I am sure was not his intention. However, I will write to him about it.