Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Carr, Mr. Kenny and Mr. O'Reilly for their presentations. As I am from Wexford, Mr. O'Reilly might not be surprised that my focus will tend towards Rosslare Europort. Mr. Kenny took over from Mr. Carr just as we were talking about infrastructural developments and he focused on the completion of the motorway from Oilgate to Rosslare, which is particularly important. He might go on to talk about rail links to Rosslare Europort and whether there are new opportunities in freight. I am talking about Dublin, Rosslare and the old Rosslare-Waterford route. Are there any prospects in that regard?

Mr. Carr was very fair in thanking a number of Departments and State agencies for working with him, and I would like to put on record our thanks to him and all the staff at Rosslare Europort. As he will know, it has been my view for a long time that the port was under-utilised, and in a very short period, it has become demand driven. Mr. Carr has certainly helped in the transformation of the port but we want it to continue to grow. What are his asks of us, in preparing our report, for the port's overall development?

Mr. Carr spoke about the potential development of Rosslare Europort as an offshore hub for renewable energies, something I would strongly support and like to happen. In the context of a review of the national development plan, what would he like us to suggest in that regard?

Most of our focus, as a result of what has happened with Brexit, has naturally been on freight, but with the introduction of quite a number of more direct routes to continental Europe, there is the potential for increased tourism. Mr. O'Reilly and Mr. Carr might each like to talk about the potential for tourism, when we get over this Covid period, arising from the increased number of links to continental Europe. The area has been under-utilised but there is certainly potential there.