Danny Healy-Rae urges reopening Schellingmoytl, seeks insurance aid
Danny Healy-Rae urged the reopening of Schellingmoytl and called on the minister to help cover insurance costs for boatmen. He said the closure is harming South Kerry’s tourist businesses and backed Deputy Griffin’s question on reopening.
Reopening plea
Danny Healy-Rae congratulated the minister on his appointment and pressed for Schellingmoytl to be reopened for the remainder of the tourist season. He said the site is a major attraction and asked that the minister make a financial contribution to meet the insurance costs faced by the boatmen so the service can resume.
Local impact
Healy-Rae said South Kerry areas including Port McGee, Valencia, Ballinskellys, Cahar, Savine and Waterville depend on Schellingmoytl being open. He described the reopening as vital to support local businesses and tourism in the area.
Safety and wider closures
The minister responded that multiple sites are closed on health and safety grounds and listed other closures in Galway, Wexford, Leash, Clare, Dublin, Wicklow, Mead, Tipperary and Kildare. The minister emphasised that protection of workers and visitors and the ability to maintain social distancing are the primary concerns behind any reopening.
Operational responsibility and next steps
The minister noted that the Office of Public Works is responsible for the site and that public access remains restricted until safety can be assured. He said insurance is an element for boatmen but that opening must minimise the likelihood of virus transmission. The minister expressed general support for opening as many sites as possible and committed to exploring a roadmap for either this year or next, while promising to keep deputies updated.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
First of all I want to congratulate Minister Donovan on his new appointment and as I have been calling for the reopening of Schellingmoytl for some time I'm glad to support Deputy Griffin in his question as well to you Minister and the entire area of South Kerry is being adversely affected by the closure or the remaining closure of Schellingmoytl Port McGee, Valencia, Ballinskellys, Cahar, Savine and Waterville really depend on this major attraction being opened and as has been said it's vital that we'll reopen it for the rest of the tourist season I suppose I know that one of the problems Minister is the insurance for the boatmen and the cost for the insurance and I'm asking as he have been supporting other businesses In other ways this is vital for to get this up and running that he makes some financial contribution to the cost of the insurance that's in front of the boatmen if we can get it open. Thank you very much Chairman and Minister Thank you Deputy Heal Eireann for your good wishes. I would point out Chairman that there's a number of sites that are closed, Schelligvigheal is not the only one, we have sites in Galway, Wexford, Leash, Clare, Dublin, Wicklow, Mead, Tipperary and Kildare that are also closed. And they're closed on the basis of the health and safety element and I think it's very important to point this out to the house. We have to be very conscious of the fact that the potential of the virus to spread to somebody because we can't maintain social distancing. So Deputy Healy Ray refers to insurance and insurance is an element for the boatmen but our concern has to be the protection of the people who work there and who visit there and to make sure that if we open a site that we can do so in the knowledge that the likelihood of them contracting this virus is minimised to the absolute extent possible or eliminated. And until we can do that, until we can stand over the opening of the site, the Office of Public Works is responsible for this building for instance, there are no members of the public here anymore. For the same reason, we have to make sure that we can operate our sites safely and that before we bring in anybody in that they can be safe. And I think that needs to be stated. But to go back to Deputy Griffin's original point, yes, I am supportive in general of the concept of trying to open as many sites as we can. And I keep you up to date and in relation to the specifics around Scali Vigil. But at the moment, I can't say anything beyond that other than to say that I am committed to seeing if we can get some sort of roadmap either for this year or for next year certainly. Mr. Chair, thank you.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
