Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)

I hope I will get a response as well.

This matter relates to an issue in respect of which the Minister of State has answered questions from me previously. It is important to acknowledge that. It relates to coastal erosion that is taking place between Inver village and Fanaghans. It is mostly on private property, although in some areas it appears to alternate between private and public property.

Inver is a community that has an affinity with the sea. The community is located adjacent to Inver Bay. There is a long history of fishing there. Substantial coastal erosion works have been carried out in the general area in the past by the Department and by Donegal County Council. There is a long stretch of bay. It is probably about a mile long. It has been worked on the whole way back. This part of the bay has been done, but a lot more protection works were done further out. Work is needed to protect three houses. Currently, the gardens of these houses are being undermined as a result of erosion. In time, the houses will come under pressure. I hope that will not happen.

It is also important to point out that some of the problems have arisen on foot of work that was carried out in recent years. That work had the effect of moving the action of the waves further down to where it is now having an impact on the properties. As the coast has been protected further out, the impact of the waves is now concentrated in the area to which I refer and that is causing additional damage.

In fairness, the OPW has allocated money in order that matters might be assessed, but the difficulty is that it has indicated that Donegal County Council, if it accepts this funding, will be responsible for any future works required. That is the crux of the problem. Under the minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme, money was made available to Donegal County Council in 2016 and 2020 to carry out works in this area to protect the sea walls. Understandably, the council does not want to take responsibility for this area of land in the future without at least the provision of money to maintain it. As the area is not public property, it does not want to have ongoing maintenance issues in respect of it. Donegal County Council cannot afford to carry out the work it has on hand at the moment, never mind taking on additional work. It is important to note that there is a public path over this land that is used widely by people in the area. This path is also being undermined by coastal erosion. As a result, there is a public element to the work. It does not relate only to private property. I urge the OPW to take into consideration that the land is actually a public amenity.

The residents who are affected need the coastal erosion works to be carried out in order that their houses will be protected. The council and the OPW can fight about responsibility for future funding. If the work is carried out properly, there may not be a need for any future funding. The council has argued that it carried out works previously on a goodwill basis in 2019 in response to appeals from local residents. It does not want to take sole responsibility for this work into the future simply because it does not have the means to raise the money to carry them out. To a certain extent, that is reasonable because it has difficulty getting money for works anyway. The OPW has a responsibility to protect the coastline and to deal with the consequences of coastal erosion, so would be natural for it to continue to provide the funding to allow the council to carry out the necessary works to ensure that the place is protected.

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