Mr. Liam Lacey:

I thank Deputy Haughey. Regarding the traffic management plans and their detail, with respect, I am not in a position to answer the question but I have general comments that I am happy to make. Dublin Port has developed satisfactorily and has met economic needs in the Dublin area, the hinterland around Dublin and the demands of the national economy for many years. The port has ambitious plans for the future that will take place within the general footprint that is available to Dublin Port at the moment. Significant efforts have been made at Dublin Port to move non-essential activities outside the port to free up the land in the port for what one might call core trade purposes. That has been a welcome development. Overall, we have seen these plans introduced effectively and implemented well within Dublin Port. The port has been efficient in the way it has gone about those things.

These are my observations as an outsider. I have a degree of trust in Dublin Port that it can deal with traffic management issues and that the people in Dublin Port are best positioned to engage in that activity. I do not know the detail of Mr. Drennan's proposals on a single entity to deal with the traffic issues in Dublin Port. Dublin Port and the people in it are very experienced and are and should be highly motivated to resolve this problem. I think that should be the locus of attention for this problem, but I would welcome the proposals being put forward by Mr. Drennan, insofar as I would be very happy to read them and see exactly what they entail.

Regarding the physical capacity of Dublin Port and its future development, a lot of the development in our ports in recent years has been driven by some of the tenets set out in the national ports policy. The policy has tiered our ports. We have three tier 1 ports in Dublin, Cork and Shannon-Foynes, two tier 2 ports in Waterford and Rosslare and then ports of regional significance. The national ports policy has had the effect of generating economies of scale in the tier 1 ports, and has done so very effectively. Volumes have grown very significantly in the tier 1 ports as a result of that concentration. In terms of generating efficiencies and economies of scale, I think the national ports policy has been effective. The policy is going to be reviewed in the next year or so, and that is the appropriate time to look again at the distribution of capacity around the ports in Ireland. It is encouraging that we have alternatives being put forward by the Port of Drogheda on the Bremore project. We see significant developments on the drawing board in ports like Rosslare and there are developments under way in the Port of Cork. As the sustainability agenda takes more of a hold in terms of how maritime transport and road transport happens in Ireland, the importance of regional ports and ports outside of Dublin may very well increase.

These are general comments. The question the Deputy asked requires much more detailed analysis. I am quite sure that that will be provided for in the review of the national ports policy when it takes place.