I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 21, 28 and 43 together.
I recently informed the House that I met Professor Dermot McAleese, chairman of the Interim Dún Laoghaire Harbour Board, and received an advance copy of the development plan for Dún Laoghaire. In the course of our meeting we discussed the future development of the harbour and the board's role in assisting me in achieving and overseeing that development.
The Interim Dún Laoghaire Harbour Board were appointed in January 1990 to advise on the management and development of Dún Laoghaire harbour. The board will report to the Minister for the Marine until such time as a harbour authority are established on a legislative basis.
The board prepared a draft development plan for Dún Laoghaire harbour in April 1991. A public exhibition of the details of the draft development plan was mounted, which included a scale model of the harbour. This display took place over a series of special public exhibitions in Dún Laoghaire. Almost 7,000 people visited the exhibition and 500 submissions were received by the board in response to the draft plan.
Since then the board have been engaged in a careful examination of the submissions received. The development plan represents the outcome of the board's deliberations and the decisions taken following a thorough examination of the comments and valuable suggestions received on the initial draft.
This plan should serve as a blueprint for the development of Dún Laoghaire harbour for the remainder of this decade and well into the next century.
I have already sent the plan for publication and expect it to be available within a few weeks. At present my departmental officials are considering its contents. When the plan is formally launched and available to the many groups interested in the development, I shall bring forward proposals as to how its recommendations can be progressed. Any proposals for development will fall to be considered in the context of the 1994 to 1997 round of EC structural funding.
I shall consider permanent arrangements for the operation and development of Dún Laoghaire harbour, including legislative changes in the context of the report of the Review Committee on Harbour's Legislation, which I expect to receive shortly.