Vol. 490 No. 5
100 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the coastal counties who have made submissions for assistance from coastal erosion; the locations in each county where there has been coastal erosion; and the estimated cost to rectify coastal erosion for each of these locations. [10820/98]
All maritime local authorities made submissions on coast protection to my Department, in response to an invitation to put forward priority projects for consideration under the coast protection measure of the Operational Programme for Environmental Services, 1994-99. Indicative costings for these projects are of the order of £30 million.
A "needs" study of the Irish coast carried out in 1992 by the national coastal erosion committee of the County and City Engineers' Association estimated that, out of the 5,800 kilometres of coastline within the State, 1,500 kilometres are at risk from erosion and that £125 million would be required to address the coastal areas most at risk. Research cited in the report on coastal zone management policy prepared for my Department and the Departments of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands and Environment and Local Government by Brady Shipman Martin estimates that coastal erosion causes a loss of land area of between 160 and 300 hectares a year.
My Department will, as part of its work on the development and articulation of coastal zone management policy, formulate an overall national strategy for coast protection. This will include the identification of protection priorities and the optimum means of responding to them.
