Vol. 528 No. 1
96 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the ice plant at Bunbeg Pier, County Donegal has been removed; and if it is planned to replace it with a smaller plant. [29725/00]
The ice plant at Bunbeg, owned by BIM, was installed in 1992 and leased, on a commercial basis, to the local fishermen's association. I understand from BIM that that production has been minimal as requirements for ice from the facility have been at such a low level since its installation.
Operating the plant at such low production levels has made the cost of producing ice prohibitive and is an unreasonable burden on the resources of the fishermen's association as the lessee. Given the operational costs and overheads, it is not economically viable for either the local fishermen or for BIM to operate the Bunbeg plant.
BIM's decision to remove the facility from Bunbeg was notified to the fishermen, following consultation with the association. The BIM ice plant at nearby Burtonport can adequately service the relatively small demand for ice from Bunbeg fishermen.
