THE MINISTER for the Environment has pledged to work with local authorities and the Department of Finance to ensure that a moratorium on public service recruitment does not hamper efforts to protect and preserve the State’s coastlines and beaches.
John Gormley said funding for local authorities, like most Government departments, had to be cut back this year, but that he hoped the authorities would continue to “prioritise the protection” of beaches in spite of the constraints.
The recent spell of warm weather has seen the numbers visiting beaches rise, and local authorities have reported that lots of rubbish was left on their beaches over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Fingal County Council said necessary resources to clean beaches each day were not available, while they were attempting to stay within a tighter budget.
“Fingal County Council does not have the same resources, either financial or staffing, available to it as in previous years, and therefore we will not be in a position to offer the level of services relating to beach cleaning as in previous years,” a spokeswoman for the authority said.
In March, the Government announced a moratorium on recruitment in the public sector, which has limited ability to hire seasonal staff to clean beaches.
Mr Gormley said local authorities can use their resources as they see fit but that if they “cannot step up to the plate” to protect their beaches, he would work with them and the Department of Finance to ensure the moratorium on hiring staff “can be lifted”.
“I would always say that the councils should prioritise the protection of water quality and cleaning up of litter on beaches,” Mr Gormley said.
“They should use their resources wisely to ensure that, and if it is not possible I will work with them to ensure we have adequate staff to do those jobs.”
Mr Gormley was speaking in Dublin as it was announced that four Irish beaches had lost their international blue flag status.
Killiney beach in south Co Dublin, Claycastle beach in east Co Cork and Portrane beach in north Dublin were among the beaches that lost the coveted award because of poor water quality standards.
Magherabeg in Co Kerry was another victim of poor water quality, as the number of blue flags in the State, which are awarded on the basis of compliance with 27 EU standards, fell for the second successive year.
Seapoint in south Dublin, which had its blue flag reinstated last year following a suspension in 2007, did not apply this year because of water quality issues.
Clogherhead in Co Louth received its first blue flag award for 11 years, and Greystones in Co Wicklow had its flag reinstated.
There are now 77 bathing areas and marinas in the State with blue flags, down from 80 a year ago and 83 in 2007.
The problems with water quality have been attributed to last summer’s heavy rain. Increased run-off can carry animal and other waste into sea water, which is regularly tested as part of the criteria for obtaining blue flag status.
“It is down to the adverse weather conditions last August when we had exceptionally high rainfall,” Mr Gormley said. “I don’t expect that we will get a return of that sometime soon, so those flags should return. People should not forget that it does not mean that the water quality is bad.”
A further 40 beaches were presented with Green Coast Awards, which are awarded mainly to lesser-developed or rural beaches.
Six beaches in Northern Ireland also received blue flags.
