Ms Niamh McCarthy:

As Mr. O'Connor mentioned, we are at the forefront. We are the people who deal with the cruise lines directly. I have been in the business for 25 years and I have seen it grow. I did the very first call in Belfast in 1996 when there was one and this year we have 150 calls. It is the same in all of the other ports. I have taken great pride in being part of growing the business and creating jobs, as Mr. Guiney has said, and building a strong economy through the cruise industry.

I find the way it was handled and communicated to us and our clients disappointing. We heard it second hand as did our clients. Our clients have invested a lot of time and money in this country. They have favoured Ireland over other regions. We must remember that cruising is a movable asset. The ships can go where they want. Ireland is popular and all of the cruises to here are sold out. While the companies want to sell all of Ireland, Dublin is the number one attraction. If Dublin is not on an itinerary the ships will not call to the other ports. It is like going to France and not visiting Paris or going to the UK and not visiting London. Dublin is the seller. It is the marquee port.

From our point of view, as Mr. Guiney touched on, during the recession this was the one part of the tourism industry that continued to grow. It still is the fastest growing sector of the tourism industry in the world. We only have to look at the order books. More than 100 ships are on order until 2026. Cruising is huge for Ireland. The guests love Ireland. This land of the céad míle fáilte is closing the door at a time there is uncertainty with Brexit. I do not mean to bring up Brexit but, let us be honest, who knows where we will be after it. Dublin Port feels it is in a position to stay "No" to a sure thing and, from our point of view, this is not acceptable. We need to try to find a way for cargo and tourism to live alongside each other and flourish and grow. We are an island and we have ports north, south, east and west. Cargo can go anywhere but guests want to see our capital city. They want to spend. They want to go to the Guinness Storehouse and the stores. They want to go to Carroll's and Brown Thomas. They want to see Trinity. It does not matter where cargo comes in. We need to find a way for all of our industries to flourish and grow together.