Vol. 416 No. 6
206 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Finance if he agrees with his predecessor's rejection of the request from the elected members of Wicklow County Council to defer any visitors centre for the Wicklow mountains national park until the Wicklow uplands study commissioned jointly by the county council and the Office of Public Works has been published and time allowed for public consultation on such an important issue, and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The scheme for the proposed visitor centre has been accepted in an independent environmental impact statement and has been approved of by the Planning Authority, Wicklow County Council. There has been extensive public consultation in regard to this proposal stretching back over 12 months. There is a danger that unless work commences on the project shortly the funding for the project will be lost. In the circumstances, there seems no justification for delaying the projects further at this stage.
Wicklow County Council asked to defer construction of the centre pending a report of interpretation in Wicklow. The interpretation plan for the new centre will not be finalised for some months and the conclusions of the report will be taken into account. There is accordingly no need to defer construction works.
