Mr. Bryan Rankin:

I represent Retail Excellent Ireland, which means I represent 2,000 retailers throughout the country. It is important to talk about the unseen hand and the unseen damage this unilateral move by Dublin Port, without consultation, will have, should it go through, in every town on the tourism trail, which are in every county in Ireland. My colleagues agree this has been a fast growing business and trade. It has grown quickly since 2012 and employment has grown with it. Tens of thousands of our employees are sustained by the cruise ship industry. This move will do away with them.

Ms McCarthy will outline the details later but the importance of this is that the cruise industry depends on certainty and being able to book some years in advance. What this move has done is remove this certainty. It means the cruise industry is unable to plan ahead and, therefore, must look at alternatives. The damage it is doing to the Irish tourism brand is scary and, if we are not careful, irreparable.

It is useful to look at the arguments Dublin Port has put forward in support of the decision. When pushed, it talks about the importance of freight to the port to the exclusion of everything else. Retailers, better than anybody else, appreciate the importance of freight but it is simply untenable to do away with cruise ships coming in to Dublin. The two most coalesce, as they do in every major port and city in Europe.

Another motivation put forward was Brexit. When this was first mooted and put forward we were right in the crosshairs of Brexit. Now, frankly, 31 October is a date that is coming at us but no one knows what it will entail.

We are seeing some concrete and damaging moves being made by Dublin Port without the consultation required. This is a national strategic utility and there must be the consultation required.

In media commentary on this issue Dublin Port was big on describing the importance of Brexit and how the port needed to prepare for it, rightly so. Port representatives talked about some of the huge vessels that were being brought in, so-called Brexit busters. What was not talked about was the damage being done to our vital tourism industry. In the course of the "Morning Ireland" interview I recall hearing that they admitted that the use of space in Dublin Port was perhaps less than optimal. They were frank about it. I suggest the use of space be looked at carefully and that every unit of space be looked at for freight before such a drastic decision is made.

There is a certain type or profile of tourist cruise ships bring here as opposed to those who come on a flight. Needless to say, they are high net worth individuals with dollars and euro to spend. For members of my group, this is exactly the type or profile of visitor and tourist we need to bring to the country. Instead, it seems we are making a decision that is diametrically opposed to it. This is the time to act and we look to the Houses to assist in that regard.