Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank those who contributed on this for their attendance. I will be parochial in regard to my response to some of the comments made. In my view, the counties of Kerry, Clare and Limerick are very much in the west of Ireland and anybody who suggests their location has changed should look again at their geography. The Shannon Foynes Port Company in my constituency is a tier one port of national importance.

I direct my comments now at the suggestion from the Galway people here that existing policy may be against what they are trying to achieve. I looked at the annual report of the Galway Harbour Company before coming to this meeting and noted it had a total income last year of €3.19 million. Over half of that income was derived from non-port activities. Some €1.1 million came from rental income and €845,000 came from car parking charges. The contrast between what the Galway Harbour Company suggests and what is happening in the west further down the coast, in Shannon Foynes, could not be more stark.

Shannon Foynes Port Company handles approximately 10 million tonnes of cargo per year, approximately 15% of our national tonnage. Galway Harbour Company accounts for only 1% of national tonnage, with just under 500,000 tonnes. Shannon Foynes Port Company is open 364 days a year and has no difficulties in regard to berthing. It can berth ships of over 200 m with 10.5 m of draught. It is the deepest port in the country and does not have the constraints the Galway Harbour Company has. It is for that reason it has been designated a tier one port.

It is correct that there will be issues in regard to attracting investment into Galway. The main reason for difficulties with attracting investment into a second port in the west is that the facilities envisaged are already available in the west. We will have three ports of strategic national importance, one in the east, one in the south and one in the west. A motorway is under construction between Limerick and Galway and a report is currently being commissioned by the NRA to upgrade the N69 into Foynes. CIE has also already done some work in regard to reopening the railway line into Foynes.

I looked at the Galway Harbour Company prospectus for years one to five in the development of Galway harbour and much of the work envisaged there has already been done 40 miles down the road in Limerick, Foynes, Shannon, Tarbert and Moneypoint. I cannot understand why there is difficulty in accepting the Government's policy in regard to the tier status of Galway port, given it handles only 1% of the national tonnage and has 13 people working there on an average salary of €90,000 a year. I feel the biggest hindrance Galway Harbour Company faces in regard to the development of its plans is dredging. It will have to put considerable capital investment into dredging and this will require significant outside investment. This can come from the State or A.N. other, but the State has already made its position clear.

Would Galway City and County Councils be averse to joining Limerick City and County Councils and Clare County Council with a view to establishing a clear transportation hub on the Shannon estuary akin to what has been done at Shannon Airport? We cannot have international airports at every crossroads and by the same token the size of the country places a limit on the number of ports of strategic national importance we can have, particularly in view of the investment required. This is unnecessary when there is a port 40 miles down the road that already deals with significant tonnage. Some of the largest ships in the world currently sail into Moneypoint, Foynes and Aughinish Island.

The Galway Harbour Company plan is very ambitious, but it bears no resemblance to what the Government is trying to achieve in its ports policy. Rather, it flies in the face of that policy. There is a reluctance to accept the fact that Galway has just 1% of the national tonnage and less than 50% of its income, €1.29 million, is derived from port activity. Instead, it believes it is in the wrong tier. I find that difficult to accept.