Vol. 426 No. 5
14 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for the Environment if he will ensure that Kerry County Council receive 100 per cent recoupment for the expenditure of £66,000 incurred in the spring of 1992 following an oil spillage off the Kerry coastline which threatened a number of our beaches.
Wexford): Overall responsibility for dealing with all aspects of oil pollution of the sea and coastal areas, including removal of oil from the coastline, has been assigned to the Minister for the Marine since 1988.
My Department, on a once-off basis and with the agreement of the Departments of the Marine and Finance, contributed £40,000 in all to the costs of clean-up operations by Kerry County Council and other west coast local authorities in respect of the pollution incident which occurred in the spring of 1992. This contribution was matched by that paid by the Department of the Marine, and remaining expenditure, amounting to some 25 per cent of the total, was met from local authorities' own resources. An element of local contribution was a feature of the scheme for recoupment of expenditure operated by my Department when responsible for oil pollution.
