Vol. 574 No. 1
325 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources further to Parliamentary Question No. 90 of 21 April 1999, the progress made on the development of a geographical information system for coastal and aerial survey work; the amount expended on the systems to date; if he has satisfied himself with the development; his further plans in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26570/03]
At present my Department operates a geographical information system for coastal and aerial survey work. Coastal work is just one of the applications running on the general GIS and the amount expended on the coastal application only is not available.
The amount expended on building up elements of the coastal GIS is as follows: beginning in 1999 a detailed survey of the coastal strip from Carnsore Point, County Wexford to Dalkey Head, County Dublin, was carried out using sophisticated laser based technology known as LIDAR at a cost of €110,000 and this survey has been installed on the GIS system; beginning in 2001 all aquaculture sites here were entered into the GIS and this was carried out in-house at an estimated staff cost of €50,000; this year my Department commissioned an oblique video aerial survey of the entire coastline at a cost of €260,000, results are currently being processed and it is expected that they will be installed on the GIS before the end of this year; and this year a detailed desk study, conducted by a combination of consultants and in-house resources, of the entire coastline was categorised using a number of erosion parameters and entered on the GIS, costing an estimated €35,000. In relation to coastal protection decision-making and forward planning, plans are under way to develop a national database and GIS with detailed information on each segment of coast, its vulnerability to erosion and flooding and the value of the assets at risk.
I am very pleased with developments to date. Introduction of geographic information systems has lead to greatly improved efficiencies and reduced work turnaround time significantly, particularly on aquaculture mapping. Geographical information systems are widely used throughout my Department. They are powerful tools in terms of collecting, collating, analysing and presenting spatial information. I intend for this capability to be developed in line with my Department's wider modernisation programme and the management information framework generally.
