I welcome the Minister and thank him for taking this matter. While he does not have direct responsibility for this area, he comes from a county with a large coastline and will be aware of the extreme difficulties experienced by people in coastal areas due to coastal erosion. The west coast has received a severe battering from the sea over the last few years. Areas which were hitherto undamaged have suffered severe coastal damage due to the changes in tides and the movement of sand. It has been difficult to explain but weather conditions, storms especially, have played a part. There seems to be a movement in western coastal areas which has caused undue hardship to and concerned many people who live there.
In my constituency over the past number of years serious damage has been caused by the sea. I am specifically referring to areas adjacent to Quilty, where there is a nice fishing harbour and resort. There have been dramatic movements of sand and tides in the past few years. The road to the pier at Seafield, near Quilty village, is threatened and the pier may be under severe strain unless some remedial action is taken. The local authority is concerned about it but does not have the financial resources needed to undertake the comprehensive and expensive works to remedy the situation. It was hoped a few years ago, with the availability of European Union funding, that it would be possible to conduct joint operations. It has been depressing to see other areas receiving substantial grant aid and EU funding to tackle coastal erosion problems while the problems in Clare have not been dealt with.
I do not want to enter into a litany of areas which have suffered severe damage, but adjacent to Kilrush and near Kilrush marina, where the Minister launched an excellent marine leisure project, the road into Cappagh village has been undermined by erosion caused by the Shannon. It would now take major investment by the county council, money it does not have, to carry out remedial works and replace the walls which would ensure the road would not be washed away.
In the inlets adjacent to the mouth of the Shannon, whole areas of embankments have been washed away, thousands of acres of land flooded and stones and seaweed scattered over a wide area. We gave photographic evidence of this to the Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, the Commissioners of Public Works and others. Since the flooding of a year or two ago, the damage caused to the foundations of some of the coastal protection walls has not been remedied. The sea is making inroads into land there, especially into land occupied by small farmers with small holdings who are dependent on this land to survive.
The other aspect of this which has caused hardship for people is the undermining of many old culverts laid down in a joint scheme between local farmers and the Office of Public Works 30, 40 and 50 years ago. Many have been undermined and some have collapsed with the result that flooding has built up behind them. The problem was difficult to resolve as it was not clear until recently who was responsible for repairing and maintaining these culverts. The county council did not want to know because it did not have any money. The Commissioners of Public Works did not want to know because they felt it should be done by someone else. The result is that many farmers are severely inconvenienced, cattle have been put at risk and lives put in danger in one area near Seafield, where houses were flooded and people evacuated in the middle of the night. The situation is unsatisfactory and people are seeking financial support to deal with it.
I ask the Minister to impress upon his colleague the desirability and urgency of finding some EU or departmental funding to supplement the work done by local communities and the county council. I also ask that some remedial efforts be made this year before any further permanent damage is caused which will further damage the livelihoods of people involved, threaten some of the local communities, raise the prospect of people losing their lives and allow a deteriorating situation to worsen. It needs urgent and remedial action now. The longer this is left — the Minister will be aware of this from his constituency — the more expensive it will be. Small schemes which would not cost much now will be hugely expensive in four or five years' time. I refer especially to Seafield and its pier and fishing harbour. If the road to it is washed away, the cost of remedial works will run into millions whereas a small amount now might deal with the situation.
