Mr. Eugene Drennan:

We are here to clarify the Deputy's questions and to clear the air on some of these issues. As regards the Minister and the IMDO report, that report certainly clouded the waters. It was not great and could not stand up. If there were not capacity issues, these big firms would not have come in. DFDS had to declare its intentions to the stock exchange in Denmark before it came here, which gave the move great clout. DFDS was willing to do that, which answers that question very clearly. I believe the report clouded the Minister's thinking. I heard the Minister for Foreign Affairs talking about capacity. Everybody started talking about capacity, which distracted from the issues I have spoken about such as timelines and service lines. That takes care of that question.

As to who has to take this forward and try to get the companies to do what we are requesting, I am not knowledgeable about the legalities facing Dublin Port as a State or semi-State agency but it is owned by the State. We are talking about private companies whose vessels are not even flagged in this country. With regard to trade between Ireland and England, the two ferry companies who should have been here to answer questions today have a captive audience of 1 million crossings of freight alone, without mentioning tourism and cars. They have a very good business in coming to and going from Ireland. Surely they should act out of common decency and should not have to be beaten into making a small adjustment.