O’Sullivan proposes €50m scheme to refurbish piers

A CALL has been made to establish a new €50m fund to refurbish piers and harbours owned by local authorities.

The call was made by Cork South-West TD Christopher O’Sullivan, who was recently appointed Fianna Fáil spokesperson for Coastal Communities. 

The Cork South West TD said the sum allocated for the development of piers and harbours at present is determined by their ownership, with those owned by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) accessing increased funds. 

‘I’m seeking the establishment of a €50m fund to help develop local authority owned piers and harbours across the country,’ Deputy O’Sullivan said in the Dáil last Wednesday. ‘At the moment there is a DAFM fund of about €5m per annum, which means these piers and harbours have to fight for scraps on the table in order to do any enhancement works. 

‘The Brexit Adjustment: Local Authority Marine Infrastructure (BALAMI) Scheme of last year, which allocated once-off payments, worth a total of €50m, allowed incredible work to take place on local authority owned piers and slipways and marinas.

‘If a pier is owned by the Department of the Marine, there’s access to much bigger funding. Castletownbere in my own constituency, received funding of about €48m for an extension there.  It shows the improvements that can be made with significant investment.’

Deputy O’Sullivan said establishing a fund could have huge benefits to the local economy in areas like West Cork. ‘The potential from a tourism point of view, from a fishing point of view and off-shore wind point of view is incredible. We just need to see that investment.’

Minister Simon Harris, who was taking questions on promised legislation in the Dáil, said he would ask Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD to consider Deputy O’Sullivan’s suggestion.