Adjournment Matters

Harbours and Piers Development

Senator Averil Power

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes. I tabled this matter to highlight the need for a proactive strategy for Howth Harbour. The harbour is massively under-utilised from the point of view of fishing, marine leisure activity and the broader tourism industry.

In 2009 the Minister of State's Department commissioned a report specifically on the fishery aspect of the harbour; it was a report covering a business plan for the development of fishery harbour centres. That report set out many areas where Howth Harbour could be further developed, but, unfortunately, most of what was suggested has not happened. I urge the Minister of State in his new role to put an emphasis on the development of fishery harbours.

A local business has contacted me about the obstacles it is facing in setting up a repair facility at the harbour. One of the areas identified as an area of potential development in the 2009 report is that of repair facilities. It is stated numerous times in the report that there is a need to enhance and develop the repair facilities in Howth Harbour and this has also been highlighted by other independent reports commissioned by the Minister of State's Department.

The majority of the work carried out in Howth is done by foreign companies operating from Kilkeel, County Down. If vessels require anything more than very minor repairs, they usually travel to Kilkeel because they cannot get them done in Howth. The State loses revenue every time this happens and it makes no sense.

A company called Fleet Marine based in Howth goes on site in the harbour in vans to carry out minor maintenance work, but cannot do bigger jobs because it has no workshop in the harbour. There is demand for it. Howth Yacht Club wants these facilities, as do others with boats based in the harbour. They do not want to have to go to County Down; they want to do it in Howth. Fleet Marine has put a number of proposals before the Department which it has been contacting for at least a year. Although it has identified suitable empty facilities, it has come to nothing. Will the Minister of State investigate this issue? It is a major loss of potential business for the area. It is disadvantageous from a fishing and marine leisure point of view not to have proper services on site. It puts people off coming to Howth.

Howth Harbour is an amazing facility. Although it is one of the most beautiful parts of the country with a beautiful harbour, fine restaurants and a great tourism service, the harbour area is under-utilised. In places on the Continent that have half of what we have, the water is full all the time. They hold festivals, have maritime museums in France and make the most of their facilities from a tourism, community and leisure point of view. Local community groups and Howth Yacht Club have done amazing work in attracting major events such as the Etchells World Championship. Howth is Magic is a business group that puts together festivals such as the Dublin Bay Prawn Festival. However, such groups constantly tell me that every time they want to hold an event, the red tape is ridiculous and it puts people off holding events. Howth is Magic must go through a laborious process of sending in the same information it sent in for the previous year’s festival and not knowing whether it will get approval. From the point of view of a tourism calendar, such events need to be confirmed months, if not a year, in advance. If one is going to promote an event internationally, one needs certainty and does not need to be arguing with local authorities, marine officials or anyone else two or three weeks before it, wondering whether one will get permission. There is a desperate need for a broader strategy that sets out the type of event, whether fishing, marine or leisure, that should be provided in Howth and gives people a framework within which they can work. If one is running the same festival as last year, one should not have to resubmit the same traffic management and health and safety plans that worked last year. It should be more straightforward once it is within an agreed framework.

I ask the Minister of State to take on this issue as a priority. I encourage him to visit Howth. I live a couple of miles down the road and will bring him out any day to meet the business people and assess the potential. It is an area in which he could make a mark if he were to give it an impetus. It would do wonders both for the leisure sector and employment creation in the area. I hope the Minister of State will give the issue his attention.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Tom Hayes)

I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue. Howth Fishery Harbour Centre is one of the six designated fishery harbour centres which are owned, managed and maintained by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. All six fishery harbour centres are, first and foremost, working fishery harbours. However, each centre has unique features which facilitate a broad range of other diverse activities, including the ones the Senator outlined, which are important from both an economic and social perspective. The Department is conscious of the importance of both fishing and non-fishing activities at the harbours and endeavours to facilitate and develop both. This involves day-to-day operational support by harbour staff and management and development and repair of infrastructure, subject to available financial resources.

Howth Fishery Harbour Centre is no exception to this diversity. In addition to fishing, there is a wide range of recreational users of the harbour, including the yacht club, sport fishermen, walkers, tourists and other social users. There are a significant number of businesses, especially restaurants, operating in the harbour centre. Notwithstanding the prevailing economic environment in which we operate, I am happy to advise that in excess of €3.2 million has been invested in maintenance, development and upgrading works at Howth as part of the Department's fishery harbour and coastal infrastructure development programme from 2011 to 2013. This investment will result in a significant improvement in the traffic management system, the access available to persons of reduced mobility and the electrical infrastructure available. It will, in addition, serve to act as a catalyst for the enhancement of facilities available to the marine leisure and tourism sector, boat repair facilities and business generally in the harbour.

The Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, approved funding of €1.18 million in March 2014 for the maintenance and development of Howth Fishery Harbour Centre. Major works for 2014 include the continued upgrading of the electrical system. The development and upkeep of Howth as a state-of-the-art fishery harbour centre supporting a broad range of marine related and other activities is and will remain an ongoing process. Any suggestions from fishery harbour users for the development and improvement of the facilities at Howth will, as has been the case, be given due consideration. The Burke-Mclver report was commissioned some years ago to provide a roadmap for future development of the harbours. All the recommendations in the report that were implementable in the prevailing economic climate were subsequently introduced.

The Senator raised the issue of working with the stakeholders. We are already doing this and have been doing it for some time. My Department has established a harbour users forum for Howth. The forum is a broadly based initiative which is open to all stakeholders to participate in. It met most recently in January this year and will, I expect, meet again very early in the new year. This forum, like similar fora in each of the harbours, provides an excellent platform for sharing ideas and obtaining stakeholder feedback, which ultimately helps inform decisions on the future developments in the harbour. In addition, the Department's officials are available to meet harbour users collectively or individually as the need arises.

As I said, Howth Fishery Harbour Centre is first and foremost a working fishery harbour. The Department is conscious that it is also a very important tourist destination in addition to being a major venue for leisure activities. With that in mind, the Department is anxious to increase the profile of the harbour for the betterment of the wider community in line with the Senator's request. To this end, the harbour regularly approves applications for events, yacht races, local celebrations and various functions within the harbour precincts. For example, in July, the Asgard centennial celebrations were held at Howth Harbour, with the keynote address delivered by President Higgins. It is estimated that this event alone attracted in excess of 25,000 visitors to the harbour. In addition, the Department approved locating the Howth tourism information office within the confines of Howth Fishery Harbour Centre. This facility opened in July this year.

Balancing the needs of the fishing industry with those of the wider range of harbour users while delivering on a public service remit will be foremost when considering future developments in the harbour. Any new development will be undertaken on the basis of available Exchequer funding and competing national priorities. I assure the Senator that the Minister is fully aware of the situation, wants to help and will. I can pass on the Senator's invitation to visit the area to the Minister and know that he will do it because he is very favourably disposed towards everything that is happening in Howth.

Acting Chairman (Senator Marie Moloney)

I welcome the students of Calasanctius College, Oranmore, to the Visitors Gallery. The group includes the daughter of one of our Members. They are all very welcome and I hope they enjoy their tour. Does the Senator have a supplementary question?

Senator Averil Power

If the Acting Chairman is finished embarrassing people in the Visitors Gallery, I thank the Minister of State for his response. He referred to the tourist kiosk, which typifies everything that is wrong and the point I am trying to make.

The tourist kiosk is an 8 ft. by 8 ft. prefabricated container. Fingal County Council wanted to install this temporary building at the front of the harbour because the previous tourist office was way down at the bottom and tourists did not see it when they came out of the DART station. Even though there was tonnes of space at the front of the harbour where this could be temporarily located, it took months to get approval from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. There was all kinds of wrangling. Council officials were pulling their hair out because they were paying for all of the works. They had the building and they were paying for the works, but they could not get approval from the Department to go ahead and do the works. We had missed much of the start of the tourism season by the time the approval was finally put in place, which is typical. Letters were going back and forth from the Chief State Solicitor. I do not know what the cost of all of the stuff that was going on was, but it certainly cost more than the 8 ft. by 8 ft. container. It was just ridiculous.

The Minister of State referred to the user forum, which I accept is in place. The reality on the ground, however, is that people do not consider the Department to be very co-operative in terms of being proactive and wanting to do new things in Howth. That is the difficulty. It is a real problem. If the Minister of State or the Minister were to consult any of the interested groups in Howth - I ask them to do so - they would get the same message. The same happened in the case of the sea scouts. The Department wanted to rack up their rent massively, which would have pushed them out of their current facility. We had to argue over that for the best part of a year, just as we did in the case of the kiosk. Everything seems to involve a row.

I accept the point the Minister of State has made about the various events that have taken place in Howth. The Asgard celebration was fantastic, as are the other festivals we have locally. I know from the groups that organise these events every year that they endure a crazy degree of hassle to get approval. I am talking about people who volunteer their own time in addition to running their own businesses locally. It seems to them that the whole process is designed to discourage people from doing things. There is a lack of productivity. There is incredible potential. I ask the Minister of State to convey this message to the Minister. There is goodwill on the ground from local businesses, community groups and clubs like the yacht club.

I would like to mention another issue that shows how small the thinking is. I understand the proposal the Department made with regard to paid parking has been parked, to use an unfortunate phrase. The proposal to introduce paid parking in the harbour would not have covered its costs.

Acting Chairman (Senator Marie Moloney)

This is a very long supplementary question.

Senator Averil Power

It would have lost money. It was actually really negative. There was no proper consultation in that case. The framework for how the harbour is managed needs to change. I hope the Minister of State will take this up with the Minister.

Deputy Tom Hayes

It should never be the thrust of the Department to stop people from undertaking development. There are always reasons. I do not know the reasons in this case. I will have a chat with the officials. It is a two-way process. As public representatives, people often come to us to complain about how long the public service is taking to do something. There are always procedures to be followed. If the procedures are not being followed, that is a different issue. I would not like to stand over a situation in which locals are frustrated. In most instances, they are voluntarily trying to do good things to help the community, to boost employment creation and develop the tourism industry in their local areas. I will talk to the Minister about this matter before responding to the Senator. If what she says is true, we need to address the issue. I am not saying anything for definite. We will discuss it with the officials and see what the situation is.

Seaweed Harvesting

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh

Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Paudie Coffey, for coming to the House. I know it was a challenge for him to get here because the previous debate finished early. I appreciate him coming.

I previously raised the issue I am raising when the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, held the position now held by the Minister of State. A delegation of Members of the Oireachtas from Galway West discussed the seaweed harvesting licensing regime with the then Minister at the time. There are many facets to this issue. Seaweed harvesting is an integral part of community life in Connemara and other parts of counties Galway, Mayo and Donegal and along the west coast. Many people harvest seaweed to supplement their income. In days gone by, they would have done it to survive. Seaweed is used for agricultural reasons and is sold to certain producers. One of the largest processing companies in the State, Arramara Teoranta, which used to be owned by the State under the auspices of Údarás na Gaeltacha, was recently sold to a Canadian company, Acadian Seaplants. We hope the industry can develop and flourish under this and other companies.

New information on the licensing regime for the cutting of seaweed has come to light in the past year or so. We understand the current law in this area is in place under the Foreshore Act 1933. Although people should technically have been applying for licences, that regime was not really enforced until quite recently. I was recently involved in a debate on Raidió na Gaeltachta with an eminent senior counsel, during which we discussed all the different ramifications of the legal scenario. I am sure the Department is aware of them. If there are pertinent rights on somebody's folio to the effect that they are allowed to cut seaweed, does that give them the right to continue to do so under the new regime? I understand the officials from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government who met us previously in the company of the then Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, are working on the new foreshore legislation.

A public meeting was held in Connemara last night because the local community wanted to discuss the exact intentions of a company that is applying for a blanket licence that would extend across a large section of shore in County Galway. It is of serious concern to many seaweed harvesters that some bigger companies are applying for these blanket licences. We know that before Údarás na Gaeltacha sold Arramara Teoranta, it was beginning to apply for a licence from Loop Head in County Clare to Belmullet in County Mayo. There were concerns about the impact that would have on the local seaweed harvesters. The harvesters have organised public meetings locally to express their concerns about its implications for them. They are concerned about whether they would be able to continue to operate under the auspices of a company that might be given such a licence. Would such a company dictate the price they would receive, the times when they could cut seaweed, or the amount of seaweed they could cut? Would they have much of a say in the industry?

One of the models I have been proposing is still worth looking at. I would have proposed it to the then Minister of Stte, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, previously. Perhaps the seaweed harvesters could come together as part of some type of fair trade scenario, for example, by setting up a co-operative or something like that. Such a move would allow them to negotiate with the different processors in the industry as a group. They would not have to depend on a particular company to buy their seaweed. They would be able to negotiate a good rate and good conditions for the work they are doing. As we all know, it is very hard work. Not everybody would be able for it or is interested in doing it. Perhaps it was not clear for a little while after the Government reshuffle took place which Minister of State had been given responsibility for this area. I now understand the Minister of State, Deputy Paudie Coffey, is responsible for it. I am glad he is in this role. As a man who lives close enough to the coast, I know he will be able to clarify this. I am not familiar with the current state of the seaweed harvesting industry in County Waterford.

People might say this is not a huge issue on a national scale, but it is in Connemara and many other coastal and rural areas. It is seen very much as a traditional thing. There are issues around the legality of the licences. What rights are enjoyed by someone who has a folio and has permanent rights on their portfolio? Do those who have always cut seaweed have squatters' rights? The senior counsel with whom I discussed this issue in the media last Monday tended to think that a case could be taken by somebody who can prove they have cut and sold seaweed on a regular basis over a number of years on a particular stretch of the foreshore. It is possible that they would have rights as well. I hope the Minister of State can clarify it for us. Will he tell us when the new foreshore Bill will be brought forward? What are his plans for that Bill? How does he intend to make sure the seaweed harvesters, in particular, are protected during the process?

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Deputy Paudie Coffey)

I am happy to clarify this matter for the Senator. Ireland's foreshore is a national asset. It is essential that any activity or development on the foreshore takes account of the need to protect it. The principal legislation governing the use of foreshore is the Foreshore Act 1933. It is widely acknowledged that reform of this legislation is needed. The Government is determined to bring forward a modern regulatory regime that harnesses the potential of our marine environment while protecting the resource. To that end, last year it approved the drafting of a maritime area and foreshore (amendment) Bill and published the general scheme of the Bill. The Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht considered the general scheme in November 2013 and issued its report earlier this year.

Drafting of the Bill is ongoing with a view to its publication during the current Oireachtas session. In brief, it is intended that the Bill will streamline the consent process by aligning the foreshore system with the planning system, reducing duplication between the processes, with consequential benefits for economic activity.

The Senator is concerned about the issue of seaweed harvesting in the context of the proposed Bill. However, the foreshore consent process has a much broader reach and is used to regulate a wide variety of development, both public and private. Such development often involves important and necessary infrastructure including telecommunication cables, offshore renewable energy installations and wastewater treatment plants. Developments such as these are important both from a socio-economic and environmental perspective. It is simply not realistic to place consideration of such applications on hold pending the enactment of new legislation. The Bill has not been published yet and enactment is, therefore, some time away. While the specific issue of seaweed harvesting is currently under review in the context of the Bill, I do not consider it appropriate to single out seaweed harvesting for special treatment in this regard.

I also want to clarify that under the provisions of the legislation I am obliged to make a determination on all applications for consent that fall within my statutory responsibility. My Department will, therefore, continue to process applications under the terms of the current Foreshore Act.

Regarding the small number of applications with the Department for seaweed harvesting, each will be assessed in the context of the relevant regulatory framework, including obligations that arise under EU birds and habitats legislation. The process will include a public consultation phase for each application. I urge anyone with an interest to make their views known as part of these processes.

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh

Interestingly, since 1933 we have had the Foreshore Act and the licensing regime has not been policed that quickly in the interim. In fact, in the past year or so we have seen an acceleration of applications coming through. I take on board the point made about the need to continue, but at the same time surely the Minister of State is putting the cart before the horse. Would we not be better off waiting for the Bill to be fully in place and debated, and the licensing regime overhauled, before issuing licences?

I understand the public consultation phase is 21 days and that there are six or seven applications on the Minister of State's desk awaiting decision. As he said, they could be put out to public consultation any time now. The public consultation phase allows between three to four weeks for people to make a submission. Is he telling me that the applications on his desk could be processed between now and Christmas and that people need to be on their toes if they have an issue with the licences being granted?

Deputy Paudie Coffey

We all acknowledge the need to reform this Act. There will be an indepth opportunity for the Senator and all his colleagues, when the Bill is published, to engage in debate and put forward views and, if necessary, amendments. Those views will be welcome and we can debate them at the time. For the moment, we await the Bill. The commitment has been made to bring it to the Houses of the Oireachtas in the current Oireachtas term and I think that will happen.

I shall reiterate what I said about the current number of applications with the Department. Each of them will be assessed in the context of the relevant regulatory framework. We have obligations under the EU birds and habitats legislation. All I can say to reassure the Senator is that the process will include a public consultation phase for each application and we would welcome anybody with an interest making his or her views known during that process. I again thank the Senator for raising this matter.

The Seanad adjourned at 12.35 p.m until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 21 October 2014.

Seanad Éireann debate - Thursday, 16 Oct 2014