Vol. 486 No. 5
5 Mr. D. Carey asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the reason for the delay in the provision of visitor facilities in Corofin, Kilfenora and Ballyvaughan, County Clare; if her proposals in this regard are dependent upon planning permission being granted for the entry point to the Burren National Park at Gortlecka, County Clare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2982/98]
The position with regard to the Burren, specifically the entry point at Mullaghmore, is that Clare County Council has deferred a decision on the question of material contravention of the county development plan until next May. In the meantime I am engaged in a process of consultation with local groups and interests. Discussions are ongoing with groups in Corofin and Kilfenora about the provision of facilities at these locations in the context of the Burren National Park and the Burren in general. A significant part of this process consists of dialogue regarding the nature, housing, management and funding of such facilities. These are sensitive matters, involving negotiations in which the balance between State input and local enterprise has to be right. Of necessity, this process will take time. For this reason I do not accept there is a delay in the provision of these facilities. That said, I am as anxious as the Deputy that matters should be brought to a speedy conclusion.
It is my intention to set up a consultative committee on the heritage of the Burren composed of representatives of local and national bodies to advise me, inter alia, on the matters to which I have referred.
It is my hope that planning permission will, in due course, be granted for the development at Mullaghmore, and I am pursuing the provision of facilities at these other centres to support and complement Mullaghmore.
I received the same reply from the Minister when I tabled this question last October.
It is the same question.
There is annoyance in Kilfenora and Corofin about the Minister's prevarication on this matter.
A question, please.
Are the proposals to establish heritage committees in Kilfenora and Corofin on the dung heap? The Burren has been studied by many groups. There is no necessity for a further study. Is the Minister prepared to ignore local people who have shown their goodwill to satisfy one or two members of her party in County Clare?
I cannot help but be amused at the ferocity with which the Deputy put his question for the reason that he was Minister of State at this Department for two and a half years when nothing was done.
Something did happen.
Nothing happened on the ground.
There was a planning application.
I supported that application.
Much work has been done during the past six months. I have met a number of groups. The groups in Kilfenora and Corofin have been contacted today about the proposals they have put forward to ascertain how the facilities in those areas can best be utilised and improved. There is also a need for progress in Mullaghmore. I hope that project, which is subject to the planning process, will commence as soon as possible.
With regard to the entry point at Mullaghmore, obviously we would like to see that in place in addition to improving the centres in Kilfenora and Corofin. I have met all of the groups concerned and will meet the Burren Action Group tomorrow. I met that group on a previous occasion, and a meeting had been set up for 21 November but it was cancelled at short notice by the group. I am realistic enough to know the Deputy might like to make a political point, but the seriousness of this matter and the work that has been done is perhaps not recognised by him. The people involved want this matter cleared up as soon as possible because it has been going on for the past seven years. I have been in office just over six months and I intend to do all I can to resolve what some people regard as an intractable problem.
The Minister does not seem to understand—
I would like the Deputy to confine himself to questions. We want to elicit as much information as possible from the Minister, and not make statements.
I think the Chair is making rules for questioners.
Will Deputy Carey resume his seat while I point out to him the purpose of Question Time? Question Time is to allow Members of this House elicit as much information as possible from Ministers. Deputies should only ask questions, they should not make statements. That is the Standing Order. I did not make it.
I remember when the Chair was on this side of the House he was rather long winded in his questions. I am well able to ask the Minister questions about this problem which she has prevaricated on for the past seven months. When will that prevarication stop? When will the people in Corofin and Kilfenora be made aware of the Minister's proposals? Why must another study be carried out?
Despite all the bluster from the Deputy opposite, he seems to have missed the point. The question of another study does not arise. We want all the people in north Clare to have a say in how they see the management of the Burren proceeding in the future not just the management of visitor centres. That takes in all the areas, with particular emphasis on agri-tourism. It is not a question of finding another committee as another excuse.
That is all it is.
If more consultation had taken place when this problem first arose, it would have been solved a long time ago.
The former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, did it.
The Minister, without interruption.
The Deputy had his opportunity but he was unable to deal with the problem. The people in Kilfenora and Corofin, and others interested in seeing the visitor centre proceed in Mullaghmore, want to see progress on this matter. I have been talking to all of those groups and they are all aware of what I propose.
The Minister has not spoken to them since October.
As I pointed out to the Deputy when he last asked this question, we are examining the whole question of land acquisition in the cases of both Corofin and Kilfenora, and certain proposals have been put to the groups involved. That is a far cry from the kind of proposals the Deputy, when he was Minister of State, was in a position to make.
In relation to the Minister's statement about land acquisitions, when did they start?
When I took over.
Not at all.
I agree with the Minister that if there had been consultation at the outset this appalling mess would not have arisen.
Correct. Fianna Fáil did not consult with anyone.
Deputy Carey, please allow Deputy Higgins speak without interruption.
When I was the Minister responsible, part of my initiative was to establish a consultation process. I might agree with the Minister more than she might think. The consultative group is not attempting to repeat the work of the working group upon which the planning application is based. Where stands the legal case now? The people of Kilfenora, Corofin and Ballyvaughan do not want to wait for the outcome of a legal consideration of a possible planning decision. Can the Minister give some assurance to the three communities that the work on their proposals can proceed coterminously with the protracted consideration by Clare County Council of the proposal made to it?
The Deputy's first comment on his commitment and consultation is interesting because if one were to read statements made by him when in Opposition one would be given to understand that he was not interested in anything on the Mullaghmore site, or Gortlecka, as he would refer to it. Yet he championed a very different proposal while he was in Government. I agree with the Deputy's view on planning permission but that is a long way from the views he expressed in Opposition.
With regard to the consultative process, this should not be seen as an opportunity to rehash all the old arguments. There is a great deal of history involved in this whole issue which makes it difficult to address. This body will not only examine the site at Mullaghmore but it will also have an opportunity to examine the long-term benefits for the Burren as a whole. The Burren is not just a national park, it is a far greater area than that and, as responsible citizens, we must ensure it is preserved. The best way that can be done is through consultation with concerned local and national bodies.
The planning process is proceeding in the usual way, and I would like to see that process come to fruition. The last time we debated this matter Deputy Higgins agreed with me that it is not our prerogative to interfere in the planning process, that it must be independent.
With regard to the legal case, I understand there will be a hearing involving the Burren Action Group in the High Court on Monday. The decision of the planning authority to delay its decision until May 1999 is part of the due process to which I consented. It is a question of planning permission and it is outside my control.
I call Deputy Carey for a very brief final supplementary. We have spent 15 minutes on this question.
This is an important issue and it will not cause any heated debate unless you interfere, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Why did the Minister and the Department consent to postponing the planning decision? The Minister told Deputy Higgins she did not have any part in it, but she did. She could have demanded that the planning decision be made but she did not. Why did she agree to the postponement thereby conveying the impression to the people in Corofin, Kilfenora and Ballyvaughan that new visitor facilities will not be provided in those areas without the planning permission?
That is the view Deputy Carey wants to put forward, but it is not an accurate or fair one. I am not and never was a member of Clare County Council or any other county council. I believe in the independence of county councils and the independence of the planning process.
The Minister put in the planning application.
It would be very undemocratic if I were to change that decision and say I am not ready to comply with the decision made by Clare County Council, which has the right to make such a decision.
That is not true.
I did not make a decision on that planning process. The county council decided.
The Minister agreed to a postponement.
I wonder how many Fine Gael county councillors turned up on that occasion? When this matter comes up again for discussion before Clare County Council I hope we can rely on the Deputy's guarantee that all the Fine Gael county councillors will turn up and vote in support of that motion.
I did not put in the application, the Department did and the Minister withdrew it.
That was a democratic decision by the county council.
