Danny Healy-Rae demands faster repairs and ferry for Dorsey

Minister, what I can't understand is why it has to be closed for so long, because in 1967 it was built in one month for £14,000. That's what it cost that time. And it is going to take eight months now practically to repair it. I can't understand that. We have cranes, we have helicopters now in today's world. That time they didn't have those things, but they still built it in the month. So I'm asking, why is it taking so long? There are 200 people going in there on average every day, tourists. There's 15,600 sheep in the best land, and there's 1,432 acres of land there. So, and there's a spin-off coming into the Kerry side as well, to Larrach, Ciel Macalogue, Helens, Kinmear, South Kerry. It will be a massive loss. This was a fierce attraction in the entire area at the mouth of Kinmear Harbour, that's what this side. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I'm taking this on behalf of Minister Humphreys, and I'm aware of the concerns expressed by the residents of Dorsey, by the farming community who have animals on the island, by those that promote tourism in the region, regarding the recent decision by Cork County Council to withdraw the existing cable car service to Dorsey Island in order to carry out maintenance works. It is important to note that the provision, management and upkeep of the cable car is a matter for Cork County Council. Cork County Council own and operate the existing cable car service and are responsible for ensuring mainland connectivity for the island residents and for those who require access for the farmlands during the period of maintenance. I understand that the recent decision to withdraw the cable car service was taken without any prior consultation with the island representatives groups or with the Department of Rural and Community Development. This is not how a local authority should carry out its business. If this service was going to be withdrawn due to essential maintenance work, there should have been consultation with the local community and, equally as important, there should have been engagement with the Department. When maintaining any infrastructure such as roads, bridges or, in this case, the cable car, the local authority is responsible for providing alternative routes to minimise any access disruptions. It is the responsibility of Cork County Council to provide the residents of Dorsey Island and all others that are dependent on the service with an alternative temporary service from the island to the mainland while these maintenance works are being carried out. The Minister is disappointed that Cork County Council did not see fit to engage or provide any prior notification to her Department about their intention to announce the closure of the cable car. It would have been preferable to have had that engagement and to have a solution and alternative arrangements in place before Cork County Council announced that the cable car was to close. It is a pity that this did not occur to anybody in Cork County Council, and I am sure that the three deputies will concur with that, based on what they have said in advance. That said, can I assure the deputies that Minister Humphreys is keen to try and find a solution. The Minister understands the urgency of the situation and her officials are engaged and will continue to engage with Cork County Council and the island representatives to try and seek a resolution to the issue. I spoke to the Minister before I came into the chamber and the Minister is prepared to try and make herself available to see how a solution can be accommodated for this issue as well. She understands the urgency and the sensitivity around this and, as Deputy O'Sullivan says, the sense of how iconic the Dorsey Island cable carries. I am a former Minister for Tourism myself and I know that Fallshire Ireland used the Dorsey cable car on many iconic images through Fallshire Ireland's imaging and Tourism Ireland's imaging around the world. It is regrettable the manner in which this has taken place, but hopefully with the correct form of engagement with the Department, the local representatives and Cork County Council, a way forward might be able to be found. I want to thank the Minister and Minister Humphreys for a positive response and outlining as it is how they feel about it. We are asking for a ferry and we are also asking that the time that this structure is being repaired be shortened. It has to be shortened. It has to be shortened. Because the ferry in itself, the waters are very treacherous there. And when the tide comes in, and to say that only people could use boats there, it's treacherous more, they lose lives there. When the tide comes in, it swings to the left and when it is going out, it swings to the right. So, look, it's a very serious matter. We are very close to the people of the Dorsey. It's part of the history. And it's part of the tourism product that we are selling. I just want to say as well, there are three holiday homes in there. There are three guest houses in there. Are we going to close down the whole lot and the farmers can't get in and out? They need to go in and out there daily. Thank you very much. In Minister Humphrey's original response, it is very clear that whether it is by cable car or by boat, Cork County Council has a responsibility to provide access to the island. It is not acceptable to just cut it, and to cut it without consultation is not acceptable. They are the statutory authority that is, you know, obliged under the law that we pass from this house to provide access to that island, to those islanders, to those farmers. And there is a requirement from us as legislators to that local authority to carry out those statutory responsibilities. And that's what we expect from our local authorities. Now, to do that without consultation is just not good enough. And that's what the Minister has clearly said in her response. Now, she has also said in her response that her officials are available and, Deputy, she is available as well herself to make sure that a solution can be found. Now, the reason that she's not here this evening is she had a prior family engagement herself and I made myself available to take the debate here this evening. I know that part of West Cork myself and Deputy O'Sullivan, you're right, I'm no stranger to West Cork. And I think I'd be very clear, I don't, if I represented that part of the country, whether it is South Kerry or West Cork, I wouldn't find that acceptable that you just cut a road or cut an island access. It's not good enough. Those people, whether they're resident out there or whether they're farmers out there, they deserve the same level of access and consultation and cooperation from their local authority, whether it is by a cable car, by road or by boat. They deserve that level of respect from their local authority. They pay road tax, they pay rates, they pay tax, they should have gotten that level of cooperation from their local authority. And the fact that they didn't is just not good enough. And that's what Minister Humphreys is saying. So it needs to be ameliorated and Cork County Council in the first instance are the people who need to do it. That's their job and they need to do it. Her officials will make sure that happens and that, you know, they have to make sure that provision is made to get people out to Dorsey safely. But separately, there is a planning process that is also in parallel to make sure that a cable car can function out into the future. And I know that separately to that as well, we have a group of people who have objections to that planning process, a group of people who follow us around in the Office of Public Works. We also have to respect the planning process, but I will take all of the comments that all three deputies, Count Corlea, have made with respect to the access to the Dorsey to Minister Humphreys. And I'm sure she will reply to you collectively. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.