Limerick West): This Supplementary Estimate is to meet the costs of storm damage caused to our coast by the severe storms of last winter. In view of this and the time constraint, I intend to confine my speech to this area of my responsibilities.
State funding for coast protection was transferred to the Department of the Marine on 1 January 1990. Until then, this function had been entrusted to the Commissioners of Public Works who had an annual budget of between £100,000 and £150,000 for this work and whose powers were derived from the Coast Protection Act, 1963. The involvement of the Commissioners of Public Works came about largely because of their engineering experience, particularly in marine engineering. Primary responsibility for coast protection law with the local authorities, many of whom have undertaken protection works using their own resources.
The Coast Protection Act, 1963 enabled local authorities to propose protection schemes to be undertaken by the Commissioners provided that a scheme met certain criteria laid down in the Act.
It is to be noted that the Act related to land within a county that:
is being progressively damaged by the continuing encroachment of the sea as distinct from occasional or abnormal storms and that the encroachment is liable to endanger the safety of a harbour, the buildings or amenities of a residential area or other valuable property.
The 1963 Coast Protection Act was well known for its complexities. Let me explain briefly how it worked. Under the Act, local authorities might propose protection schemes to be undertaken by the Commissioners provided there was progressive damage occasioned by the encroachment of the sea. The Commissioners could carry out a preliminary examination of the problem outlined in the application.
Following the preliminary examination — which was basically an engineering assessment of the problem and an estimate of cost of any necessary works — the Commissioners could make a "positive determination", that is, a statement that a scheme was feasible or a "negative determination", that circumstances were such that a scheme was not warranted.
In the event of a positive determination, the Commissioners were obliged under the Act to obtain a declaration from the local authority as to whether or not a scheme should be proceeded with and that, in the event of a scheme being executed, the local authority would pay the appropriate contribution.
Before a scheme could be implemented, the Act required that the Commissioners would have further detailed consultation with the local authority. Those whose property was likely to be affected would be notified.
Public exhibition of the proposed scheme was also required. The execution of works was dependent on the sanction of the Minister for Finance. Under the Act finance could be made available only when a proposal for a scheme of protection works, having followed the statutory procedures had reached the stage where the Commissioners could commence works.
The Commissioners were not empowered by the Act to make grants to individuals or groups for the purpose of undertaking such works. This is a brief outline only of the detailed steps required under the 1963 Act but it illustrates the complex and lengthy procedures which must be gone through. Clearly, it was never intended to be used to deal with emergency works arising from storm damage.
On the weekend of 16-17 December 1989, severe storms caused extensive damage along the south and east coasts. A deep depression tracked across the southern half of Ireland and the associated high winds coincided with spring tides resulting in heavy seas which caused major coastal damage, particularly, in Counties Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford and Cork.
I have on previous occasions informed this House of the initiatives I took following those storms. The damage caused at many locations, including Bray Harbour and Esplanade, Arklow Harbour and north beach, Kilmore Quay and Rosslare Strand, was seen at first hand by the Minister and by myself.
Kilmore Quay is, as the House knows, an important fishery harbour with substantial on-shore employment and it was vital to react quickly to provide financial assistance to repair the pier. The awesome power of the sea was vividly demonstrated at Kilmore Quay when a section of quay wall, approximately 20 metres long, was demolished. At Arklow north beach the severe storms in combination with the high tides removed the sand dune protection of a significant area of lowlying ground. Extensive flooding of property occurred and would continue to occur if some action was not taken. An emergency coast protection scheme to provide a protective rock slope was urgently required. I offered immediately grant-aid of 50 per cent to Wexford County Council for repairs to the pier at Kilmore Quay and in the context of the budget I sought and received a special allocation of £950,000 to assist Wicklow County Council in undertaking the emergency coast protection works at Arklow north beach.
Unfortunately, further damage was yet to come. During the month of February a series of storms hit the country and storm damage was reported from all coastal counties except Leitrim and Limerick. Again the Government reacted quickly and established a ministerial committee to assess the situation. The Government, in setting up the committee, acknowledged that the level of storm damage was unprecedented and that exceptional measures would have to be taken. As a member of this committee, I undertook a full review and an assessment of the storm damage, in each coastal county, was undertaken by engineers from my Department. Their report summarised the costs of all cases of reported coastal damage. The damage reports were obtained by contacting local authorities and asking them to submit details of damage which could be attributed to the storms. Any sites at which significant damage was reported were inspected by the Department's engineers.
In assessing costs of damage, only damage arising directly from the storms of last winter was considered. The cost of the damage was assessed as the cost of the repair work necessary to return the damaged areas to a serviceable condition of good engineering standard. In cases this could mean that a collapsed sea-wall, for example, would be returned to a better than pre-storm condition as maintenance, or indeed reconstruction of the wall may have been neglected over the years.
I would like Deputies to be aware that coastal erosion is not a new problem brought on by last winter's storms. It is an ongoing phenomenon leading to the progressive damage of land by the continuing encroachment of the seas. However, there is no doubt that those storms, by damaging coastal defences, highlighted areas where coast protection works are required. My engineers reported on three distinct types of coastal damage. These are: (1) Repair work to piers and harbours; (2) Emergency and small scale remedial work to coast defences, sea walls, etc.; and (3) Coast protection schemes which were needed even before the storms but where the urgency for the work was increased by the storms, for example, north beach, Arklow.
At the end of March, the Government, having considered the Minister's committee's report on storm damage, provided an additional allocation of £3 million to my Department for restoration works at commercial harbours, local authority piers and harbours and in relation to other marine damage resulting from the winter storms of 1989-90.
Following discussions with the Department of Finance and the Department of the Environment, in accordance with the Government decision, my Department wrote to the local authorities advising them of the assessment of marine storm damage in their area and asking them to submit details of the projects which they intended carrying out and for which they would be seeking grant assistance. An assessment of each application was undertaken by the Engineering Division, and once the Department were satisfied that it qualified for assistance, the council were informed that a grant was available in respect of the application.
The final distribution of the allocation between authorities was as follows:
Marine Storm Damage Allocations.
|
County |
Grant |
|
(£) |
|
|
Louth |
155,500 |
|
Meath |
37,000 |
|
Dublin |
120,000 |
|
(Dún Laoghaire) |
41,063 |
|
Wicklow |
165,000 |
|
Wexford |
147,500 |
|
Waterford |
414,250 |
|
Cork |
916,757 |
|
Kerry |
158,750 |
|
Clare |
153,000 |
|
Galway |
90,500 |
|
Mayo |
202,000 |
|
Sligo |
137,500 |
|
Donegal |
89,250 |
|
Harbour Authority |
Grant |
|
(£) |
|
|
Dublin |
19,618 |
|
Waterford |
5,900 |
|
Arklow |
67,500 |
|
Wicklow |
27,500 |
|
Foynes |
2,500 |
|
Other Marine Repairs |
8,912 |
|
Department of the Marine/ Marine Engineering |
|
|
Expenses |
40,000 |
|
Total: |
3,000,000 |
My preceding comments and the figures which I have provided illustrate the serious consequences of a series of storms of unusual severity and their impact on Government expenditure in 1990. I am satisfied that the response of the Government to these events was correct but, as Deputies will appreciate, these events have added to the Department's expenditure for the year 1990 and have given rise to the Supplementary Estimate moved today.
