Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not change the national ports policy that has been clearly set out by the Government. The legislation before us is entirely consistent with that policy.

The Deputy asked the reason Galway Port has a specific designation. Ports of national significance, tier 2 ports, had to meet three criteria. First, they had to be responsible for at least 2.5% of the overall tonnage handled nationally. Second, they had to have the clear, demonstrable potential to handle higher volumes of unitised traffic. Third, they had to have in place transport links to serve a wider national marketplace, beyond the immediate region. The key criterion is the first one relating to the share of business of a port. Since the corporatisation of the harbour company in 1997, the highest market share Galway Port has achieved in any year has been 2%. Its average market share in the past 16 years has been 1.5%. That is the performance of the port and it is for this reason that the designation I have proposed is appropriate. I emphasise again, however, that independent of that, I do not set the criteria laid down for TEN-T funding.