Keelbeg Pier in Union Hall, west Cork has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks. Cork County Council commissioned a report by engineering consultants, ByrneLooby, and was advised to close part of the pier. This has rightly led to great anger among pier users in Union Hall and its surrounds. The Tánaiste visited the pier in June 2021 and the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, visited it later in 2021. Advice was given to Cork County Council to seek funding for a development option study. A letter that was sent by the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, to Cork County Council in July 2021 states where this application for funding should be sent. The council applied for the funding and it ended up being refused. Let us fast forward to January 2023. In a question and answer session in this House, I pushed the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, to explain why this funding was not given and was told that no application had been sent in for funding. I now have evidence that an application for more than €200,000 was sent by the council to the section of the Department it was told to apply to. First, the Minister should come before the Dáil to correct the record but, more importantly, will immediate funding be made available for a study on carrying out repair works to this pier so it can be kept open for the people of Union Hall?

This is something the Deputy and I have discussed on several occasions. As he will be aware, I have granted unprecedented funding to piers and harbours throughout the country. In normal years, €3 million or €4 million would be spent on local authority piers in any one year. In the past year, I have allocated almost €40 million to piers and harbours, many of which are in Cork. I worked closely with Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan to deliver them. He updated me recently on the situation in Union Hall. The onus is on the county council to do the preparatory works, put the application together and submit it to me.

The council has done that.

Were I to get a capital application-----

It was sent to where the Minister told the council to send it in July 2021. I have it here.

Please, Deputy.

Were I to get an application for capital works, I can grant that, but the onus is on the local authority to get to the stage where it can make the application.

It has done that and the Minister refused them.

Deputy please.

I am sorry, a Cheann Comhairle, but I want the facts. The facts are-----

I will not call on the Deputy again if he does not keep quiet.

I apologise.