I come to the Tánaiste with a serious request that he work with Ministers in the Department of the Environment, Local Government and Heritage and the Office of Public Works, in tandem with Fingal County Council, to provide further emergency coastal protection measures on Brook Beach in Portrane. There is a long-term solution for sea groynes to protect the houses and community there but it has not even gone to planning permission. We are at a critical stage, with houses on Healy's Lane, Beach Lane and the Burrow in danger of falling into the sea. We have already lost homes there. This is not my assessment but the assessment of the professionals in Fingal County Council. Will the Tánaiste help the families - the Duffys, the Bartons, the Shevlins and all the others - and community by instructing Ministers to act with haste to provide coastal protection measures at this location? I have raised this before but it is a critical emergency right now.

I thank the Deputy for raising a very serious issue. I will speak to the Ministers with responsibility. We need to accelerate work on coastal protection across the country but obviously in the locality identified by the Deputy as part of a wider national adaptation plan. Climate change is here. It is not something that will happen in 2050 or 2040. It is happening right now. It is affecting food production but, above all, it is having a significant impact on coastal erosion and people's homes. I acknowledge that and will talk to the Ministers concerned.