Mr. Glenn Carr:

Deputy Bruton is right in the question he asked. He is asking what the ask is of committees like this one, and of Government. We need to bring that ask clearly to the Government. The simple fact is that in the next few weeks we will have a very detailed business case. We would say that it is the first one that has been done through serious in-depth dialogue with developers on what they are willing to pay per square metre and what port dues will typically be generated. The simple fact is that a revenue model has to be built when looking at the scale of borrowing that will be required. The average contract with each developer will be 18 to 24 months for each developer. These are short-term contracts although we are looking at many of these contracts over the coming decades. The simple fact is that each developer we meet will probably want access to a port for about 18 to 24 months. Again, these are short-term revenue opportunities over what we really need which is a long-term repayment of the borrowings. The models such as ten-year or 20-year return on investments have to all be looked at again. This is national strategic investment. If I was in a port in France today, of which I have visited a few, I might see a much longer payment model agreed either through the region or direct investment and so forth. It is incumbent on us to bring forward the business cases that can stand up to scrutiny and to public spending codes and in the coming weeks we will be bringing that to the Department.

The Deputy is also right in terms of the sequence because there is a very clear sequence in the renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, auctions. We saw it last week. There are three of them on the east coast. The next phase will be the east coast coming around by Cork. We have to focus on delivering the infrastructure for them. Like everything in business, location is key. We are within 60 to 100 nautical miles of the majority of the wind farms. It makes absolute commercial sense and absolute sustainable sense in terms of the environment and the distances that ships, barges, and crews would be travelling, that we do this in the most efficient and most cost-effective way. Location is key in that from a port point of view, like all of our activities. What made Rosslare so successful with Brexit? It was the closest port to Europe which attracted shipping lines that could have frequent services and a lot of capacity commercially. That is what it is all about. It is no different in this industry as well. Some of these vessels will be chartering at hundreds of thousands of euro per day. The last thing any developer wants is to be losing downtime in the supply chain. That is added cost at all times. We have to come around. We have to follow the market here to make sure we are approaching that.

We might come across as though we are all competitive, which we obviously are, and I want to get as much business for Rosslare Europort as is feasible. However, at the same time, there is a need for at least three ports to be developed in the Republic of Ireland. We are not going to be involved in floating offshore wind farms because the projections of what will be needed far exceed what we are capable of doing. We accept that although it may change in time. We cannot keep deepening ports. We have seen that in other sectors of port activity where the industry has become more agile. People used to tell me that ships are getting deeper but they are now getting wider and longer because dredging is very expensive. We must be ready for phases 1 and 2. The same is true in Cork. At the same time, the Shannon Estuary must be developed. However, we must keep our focus on phases 1 and 2. We cannot miss out. Some of these companies will be in phase 1, 2, 3 or 4. If they set up their bases somewhere outside the jurisdiction, with all of the supporting activities around that, it will become very difficult to move all of that activity. It might be possible to move the shipping but we might lose the heavy concentration we have been talking about and jobs that create regional development. We believe up to 2,000 jobs will be created in the south east alone. We cannot lose sight of that because it is the big prize at the end of all of this.

In respect of the funding, we simply have to find a way through. Whatever mechanism we use, we must see support for the ports and the provision of funding. I am convinced by what I have heard from the Department and all of the agencies that everyone wants the same goal and we can make it happen. Equally, we have to bring forward a business case that can be fully scrutinised to ensure it stacks up.