Dr. Joseph Hiney:

I am as perplexed by Brexit as anyone else in terms of where it will end up and how it will work. I have no particular wisdom on the matter. If there is a hard border then there certainly will be extra steps in the process of moving cargo in and out. Our niche market is in dry bulk imports and some dry bulk exports. This involves particular ships coming in with one load, some from the UK but mostly from northern Europe. I am talking here about transhipments of animal feed and so on, into Ireland, to supply the agrifood business in the north east of the country. One aspect of Brexit that would be a concern that I can identify rather than just speculate on is based on the fact that we compete with a small port on the other side of the Border - hard or soft, virtual or otherwise - in Warrenpoint. The association representing UK ports is lobbying for special status for ports because of Brexit to enable them to deal with the transactional issues that would arise in a border scenario. They already have competitive advantages in terms of their planning rules and the ability of the state to invest in their ports. We would be concerned that Drogheda Port Company will suffer a further competitive disadvantage.

As the Deputy rightly says, it is a small to medium sized enterprise. We expect to grow. If one looks at container ports like Dublin and Cork, one will see sustained growth because they reflect merchandise goods moving in and out of the country. We deal with niche markets in terms of dry bulk, which has its own different dynamic and is a function, for example, of the agricultural industry and the demand in that sector. We also have cement exports and other ore-type exports that function well. It is very hard to tell what will happen. One can see some of the players in the market, not necessarily to do with Drogheda Port, making moves to have warehousing facilities and legal entities in both the UK and Ireland. Presumably they are hedging their risk and preparing for whatever happens. We are in a high exporting and high trading economy. We need to be able to move our goods and people in and out of the country efficiently.