Mr. John Mullins:

Go raibh maith agaibh go léir as an seans labhairt libh ar maidin. I very much appreciate the opportunity to present my credentials and vision for the Port of Cork at this session. I will first introduce myself to the committee and then present the salient challenges and opportunities facing my intended stewardship of the board of the Port of Cork. I was born in Cork in 1968 in the south inner city to Patrick and Maureen Mullins. My father spent his life as a painter-decorator for Cork City Council and my mother was well occupied with five boys of whom I am the eldest. I was educated in North Monastery primary and secondary schools and then went on to study electrical engineering in University College Cork. I completed a bachelor's degree in 1989 and was awarded graduate of the year in UCC in 1989. I also studied a master's degree in electrical engineering in UCC. In 1997, I graduated from the Smurfit Business School in UCD with a first class honours MBA.

I started my career with the ESB and am very thankful for the very fine career foundation I received there. I also worked as a senior consultant in PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting in London specialising in the communications, energy, water and transport division. In 2000, I returned to Ireland to work with ESB International where I led projects in Poland and project-managed and commercially negotiated the ESB's largest external investment in Amorebieta in the Basque region. In 2002, I joined NTR plc and worked with all of the fledgling companies in the group, the toll roads company, Greenstar, Celtic Anglian Water, Bioverda and because of my background, Airtricity.

I left NTR in 2007 to take up the position of chief executive officer in Bord Gáis Éireann. My time in Bord Gáis Éireann was immensely enjoyable and challenging and my period there is marked by significant diversification of the company. BGE is now a serious force in electricity as well as gas through the success of the "Big Switch" campaign and investments of more than €1 billion in power plant of conventional and renewable types. In my time in BGE, the company successfully raised up to €2 billion in funding facilities in an unprecedented time. I believe my experience in international infrastructure and financing can bring some benefit to the Port of Cork. My most significant achievement was the awarding in 2012 of the "Great Place to Work" award to BGE.

I left BGE at the end of last year and am currently reshaping an international solar business for capitalisation before the summer for international expansion in European and US markets.

I am a fellow of Engineers Ireland, and hold board positions with the Tyndall Institute, UCC, COPE Foundation and am chairman of the bereavement charity, Anamcara. I am currently President of the Cork Chamber of Commerce, a role I will finish in seven weeks.

I was very much aware growing up of the importance of the Port of Cork as my mother grew up close to the docklands. The historical significance of the port to traditional and modern exports cannot be understated. This infrastructure is a vital cog to the regional and national economy. The region has a significant maritime history whether it be naval, commercial or, regrettably, the export of our people from Cobh. The harbour is a phenomenal leisure and tourism resource as well. As President of the Cork Chamber of Commerce, I am very much minded of the link with the Chamber of Commerce and the port as the chamber was established on the strength of trade and shipping in the region. The committee may have heard of the term "merchant princes of Cork", a term much used for those who used the port. The new merchant princes of Cork are large multinationals, indigenous and agri-food exporters. I am not a merchant prince.

The Port of Cork has a very strong management team under the capable hands of its chief executive, Brendan Keating. The port has successfully opened up new trading avenues for the region. The port boasts unique deep-water facilities which facilitate larger vessels, with economy of scale and world shipping driving ports to facilitate larger ships. We must remind ourselves that 90% of trade by volume is achieved through ports such as Cork.

Recent achievements at the port include a new weekly transatlantic container service, the first lo-lo deep sea service in Ireland; a new Arkady bulk store for agri-food products at Ringaskiddy; winning the servicing of the ExxonMobil exploration off our coast; and the achievement of ISO14001, OHSAS 18001 and IPSEM accreditations. The introduction of the Maersk service represented a €3.5 million investment, providing a strategic customer in to the future. It is recognition of Cork's competitive advantage in location and deep-water vessel access and berthing.

In general, the issues facing this State company at this time are no different to those encountered by other State companies. I am very much aware that the port must continue the ongoing drive for continuous improvement, generating greater efficiencies and improving quality of service. This is crucial to improve competitiveness of our exports and imports. The port has considerable financial needs but these can only be achieved through an increase in revenues and improvement in profitability. Consequently, a higher dividend can be offered to the Exchequer.

There is an increasing need for varied and appropriate quality services in a maritime world of changing dynamics, with the drive for globalisation, port-centric activities and integrated logistics chains. Looking forward, the limitations of existing lo-lo facilities in ship size and current urban location at Tivoli will need to be addressed by relocating such services further down the harbour. The Port of Cork is very much in favour of the Cork docklands redevelopment and we intend to play a full role in its achievement. The population of Cork city has declined over the past decade and the development of the docklands will right those statistics.

Ringaskiddy redevelopment will be a key strategic pillar during my stewardship of the company. The port obtained a previous refusal for Oyster Bank and a multipurpose terminal in 2008. A review of this strategy took place in 2010 and a strengthening of the planning framework has been achieved. A new planning application is in hand and the port will finalise pre-planning discussions with An Bord Pleanála shortly. We are confident that the rail and traffic issues underlined in the previous refusal can now be addressed.

Cobh is synonymous with much of the harbour's history and the history of the Titanic is quite a draw for the town. Cobh now boasts Ireland's only dedicated cruise terminal, where vessels up to 340 metres in length can be accommodated. In 2012, 57 cruise liners brought more than 100,000 passengers to the region and the port expects to surpass that target this year. The port will further invest in these facilities with the assistance of external support. The combination of the Spike Island, Cobh's Titanic links and the harbour forts represents a unique tourism opportunity for the region. The port is involved with this vision and believes this new experience would be very complementary to cruise traffic. Access points across the harbour are now being investigated.

In my time in BGE, I pioneered investments in marine energy sources such as tidal and wave. I am pleased to say that the land swap with the IDA and UCC is underway in the creation of IMERC in Ringaskiddy. The IMERC will be a world class facility for research, offshore energy and maritime clusters. There are considerable synergies between this development and the port.

The old Marino Point IFI site has been identified as a supplementary site, if it can be acquired, to complement new facilities in Ringaskiddy. The site has rail connectivity so demand for rail freight, if it arises, can be met. It also has an existing jetty with 10 metres of draft with access and berthage. Seveso activity on site offers the opportunity to facilitate relocation of other Seveso sites from Tivoli.

More than 9 million tonnes of freight passed through the port in 2012, representing 19% of the total nationally. The oil refinery accounts for 60% of the freight and 30% of the income of the port. Whitegate is a critical account to the Port of Cork and potentially nationally with the onset of oil exploration and further refining at the port.

Turnover in 2011 was in excess of €21 million and we expect a marginal improvement for 2012. Profits reported for 2011 were €838,000 and, again, the port expects an improvement in 2012 outturn. In 2009, a rationalization programme was implemented at the port that will run until 2015. We expect an incremental €1 million addition to the bottom line from that period onwards.

My priorities as chairman will be to continue growth at the Port of Cork through renewed competitiveness, investment and profitability for the long term, to significantly reshape port infrastructure for a long term future, and to assist regional economic development, not just in Cork but across Munster and south Leinster, to the fullest in the docklands development, promotion of tourism, maritime research and industrial expansion.

I look forward to taking up my duties and doing the very best for the citizens of the country.