Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 April 2017
9. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department has been contacted by a group (details supplied) or Fingal County Council regarding an application for funds for dune protection works at Portrane, County Dublin. [18700/17]
View answerIt has been more than two months since the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, visited Portrane. I wonder what has happened in the intervening time to deal with the critically dangerous and worrying situation of coastal erosion in the area. When we raised the issue previously we heard that on the one hand Fingal County Council was given money and it is up to it to apply for funding but on the other hand Fingal County Council has said it is not in a position to do anything. How can the heads be brought together in order to address the issue?
The management of problems of coastal protection in the area indicated is a matter for Fingal County Council in the first instance. The council must assess the problem and, if it is considered that specific measures and works are required, it is open to the council to apply for funding under the Office of Public Works, OPW, minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme. Any application received will be assessed under the eligibility criteria, which include a requirement that any measures are cost beneficial, and having regard to the overall availability of funding.
Fingal County Council applied for and was approved funding of €57,800 under this scheme in 2012 to carry out a coastal erosion risk management study of Portrane to Rush. The funding was drawn down in 2013 following completion of the study. Following the severe storms of winter 2013 to 2014 and on foot of submissions made by the local authority, total funding of €200,000 was provided by the OPW to Fingal County Council under the Government decision S180/20/10/1272 of 11 February 2014 to allocate funding for the repair of damaged coastal protection infrastructure. Part of this funding was for a dunes repair project at Burrow beach, Portrane. This project was not proceeded with by Fingal County Council at the time and the council indicated that this would form part of a separate application under the minor works scheme.
The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, visited Portrane on 21 February 2017 to view himself the effects of coastal erosion in the area. He met with local Deputies, local representatives, residents and property owners and he was impressed by the level of engagement locally and with the council officials in exploring options to address the problem. He knows that Fingal County Council is working hard to identify an appropriate and sustainable solution to the problem at Portrane in advance of submitting an application to the OPW for funding to carry out works.
The Minister of State has been advised that his office is not currently in receipt of any application from Fingal County Council under the minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme for dune protection works at Portrane. His office remains available to work in partnership with Fingal County Council to provide any assistance possible to alleviate the effects of coastal erosion at this location.
I have a feeling of déjà vu about this. The reply seems to be very similar to the one we got in the previous round of Question Time, which also followed the visit of the Minister of State. I am conscious that he will be replaced by another Minister of State in a week or two when the ministerial rota shifts, and he will be the third Minister who has visited Portrane.
In 2012, another Minister came out there and said the same thing. The problem is that in the intervening period the damage that has been done to the dunes and the threat to people's homes is becoming critical. I acknowledge that the local authority is being given responsibility for this matter. I also recognise that moneys have been made available, but that funding has not been utilised. I have not seen any evidence of a sufficiently quick, urgent or efficient response to what is a dire necessity.
It is all right for a Minister - I know the Minister of State is just standing in - to say that he is working in partnership with the council, but it is not working. Can somebody deal with this situation urgently, so that we can get some works done on the ground there?
I appreciate the Deputy's commitment to this issue. I was in the House on a previous occasion when it was debated with the Deputy and the Minister of State, Deputy Canny. Of course there is a need for urgency, but we must ensure that the right coastal and flood protection work is carried out. The correct process must be followed in this regard. Fingal County Council has to identify the appropriate sustainable and viable solution for the problems at Portrane. Once that has been done they can apply for OPW funding. If the funding is approved it is then a matter for the council to progress the necessary works.
The solution that has been proposed in the risk management report, however, may not be the best one, or environmentally sustainable. The council is currently examining that matter but once it has made an application, the OPW will not be remiss in playing its part in this process to ensure that the protection works can take place at the appropriate time.
There are two problems. In works like this the indirect impact on the environment has to be considered, as well as other consequences and knock-on effects. That cannot outweigh the direct impact on people's lives and homes, however. They are literally hanging onto a cliff edge there. Do we have to see a house collapse before something is done? I accept that the local authority has a statutory responsibility, but it has not delivered on that. The Minister's Department should sit down and say listen lads, we have given you this money, you spent some of it on a study and you have not implemented anything from that and we still got nothing else done, although we have given you other moneys.
When we raised this matter before, Deputies from other counties said hang on a minute, you have allocated money to them, but they are not drawing on it while we have a dire need in our areas yet we cannot get the money. It is absolutely ludicrous. Can we call the council in and get to the bottom of this once and for all? If this is not sorted out, there will be a house in the sea.
On the same issue, I absolutely agree with Deputy Daly. When one engages with councils on erosion they say they do not have the money. When one puts a parliamentary question in to the Minister, one is told that the Department has allocated the money. I think we should call in every council around the country and ask how they have spent their money or why they have not spent it. If they are not spending it and just sitting on it, it should be taken off them.
The Deputy is right about finding the right balance in terms of the need to protect our coastal areas, as well as lives and property. We must proceed on this in the right way. Funding is available for these works to take place but we need to ensure that we are doing the right works. The risk management report showed that the proposed solution may not be the correct one or the best one. I will relay the Deputy's concerns to the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and will suggest that he should call in the council to see what urgent solution it can find together with the OPW.
And the then Minister of State, Deputy Moran. He will be in place, will he not?
The Deputy knows more than we do.
