Mr. Barry O'Connell:

Good afternoon Chairman, Deputies and Senators. I have prepared an abbreviated version of my original statement, which I will go through now.

As an island nation, Ireland’s ports are essential to our economic growth and stability, with more than 90% of our international trade by volume coming through our ports each year. Dublin Port is the largest of our ports and accounts for 80% of total containerised volumes on the island. In 2022, 60% of Dublin Port's volumes were imports and 40% were exports. A recent Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, OECD, study showed that 43% of the value of Irish exports are based on international imports, which is five times higher than the OECD average, making exports the primary activity of the port. This demonstrates just how important it is to get our strategy right.

Strategy is about making choices and Dublin Port's choices are determined by the Harbours Act, which stipulates that its mandate is to provide capacity to enable international trade. How the port chooses to do this is also informed and supported by numerous policies, including the NDP, the national planning framework, NPF, the National Ports Policy, the greater Dublin area transport strategy, the Dublin city development plan and the national climate action plan. If enabling international trade is the port's primary purpose, then the port's lands are its primary tools. On one of the smallest and most constrained sites in Europe, Dublin Port is already achieving efficiencies well above its European peers and with no ability to expand its lands further, it will require even higher efficiencies built into its numbers going forward.

Dublin Port is a central hub in what is a highly effective and efficient route to market system. It is inextricably linked to the port tunnel and the M50 - to the extent that 73% of everything that comes into and goes out of the port emanates from within a 90 km radius - which, in turn, supports a highly-developed network of distribution hubs and logistics centres. This route to market delivers a huge variety of products in the shortest distance possible and in the most cost-effective way to the largest concentration of the population.

On the basis of an up-to-date, thorough and objective review of demand and capacity forecasts by Indecon economic forecasting consultants, Dublin Port is confident of being able to deliver port capacity until approximately 2040, provided it can deliver the three projects already flagged in the Dublin Port Masterplan 2040 document, first published in 2012. The basis of this assumption is that the lands on which the masterplan was based originally are available. Any reduction in lands available will, at best, reduce capacity and bring forward the date by which the port runs out of capacity. At worst, it could undermine the financial viability of the third and final project, thus significantly reducing potential capacity and the associated benefits, including community-gain initiatives. It is important to note that like other ports, Dublin Port is a self-financing commercial semi-State company and does not rely on Exchequer funding. In that context, the numbers have to work relative to our investment in infrastructure.

After 2040, additional core port capacity will be needed at a national level including, most likely, another facility on the east coast. Dublin Port has been flagging this scenario for some time now and published its opinion on same in a comprehensive set of papers in November 2020. It is our view that the determination of a final location, its planning and construction is likely to take up to 15 years before it has a material impact on our national capacity. The costs associated with such a project are also likely to be high and an innovative approach to financing may be required. Our assumption is that this will be addressed as part of the National Ports Policy review which is currently underway.

As we look to 2040 it is important to realise that today Dublin Port is already experiencing pinch points in its capacity. Lands occupied by State services for good reason in 2019 are currently underutilised and are tying up ro-ro lands equivalent to 19% of 2022 volumes. Equally, we are under pressure for lo-lo capacity. We have had to turn business away due to these constraints so it is important that we take decisions quickly to alleviate this pressure.

The primary role of Dublin Port is to provide the capacity required to enable the continued growth in international trade and by association, the continued growth in our economy. Our strategic planning through our 2040 masterplan translates this ambition into a series of three projects, one of which is complete. The second is under way while the third and final project is detailed and ready to go, subject to planning permission. The provision of sufficient port capacity in Dublin Port is crucial to the continued economic and industrial development of the island of Ireland. As longer-term alternatives are considered, action needs to be taken to deliver sufficient port capacity now and that is something to which Dublin Port Company is committed.