Mr. Richard Guiney:

The numbers suggest it is probably between €30 million and €35 million. It concerns fewer than 30 ships with a capacity of 3,500. As Mr. O'Connor pointed out, the rest are carrying about 200, which is a long way short of 3,500. One is looking at bringing the figure down to one fifth or one sixth of the number. Therefore, the loss to Dublin alone is €35 million or maybe up to €40 million. If the boats do not come to Dublin, they will not be going to Cobh and Belfast.

This is one of the issues that has really given rise to concern among us. We are given numbers but as soon as the surface is scratched, it is found that the position is quite nebulous. The committee also needs to take into account that Ireland is suffering reputational damage. As Ms McCarthy stated, the large cruise liners made a decision to use Dublin as a home port and believed that if they could grow it in that context, it would become a major hub. When they made that decision, they started spending a lot of their money marketing Ireland to tourists in America and elsewhere. Within a number of months, without consulting the companies, the decision was made by the port to cease the trade. The companies spent money in good faith marketing Ireland to very wealthy tourists and then found the decision had basically been reversed. We have had some contact with and anecdotal evidence from people who are active in the market, particularly the North American market, suggesting there is a lot of upset within the tourism industry there. Basically, the question being asked concerns what is going on not in Dublin or Dublin Port but in Ireland. Therefore, we need to consider reputational damage.