Mr. Eugene Drennan:

The shipping companies have announced that they are going to change back to the old schedules, and they are citing the second ramp. Particularly for us in Ireland, the issue is that the build of those ramps is out into the sea. Heretofore, in the old shipping lines coming in, it went into safe harbour. It went further into the harbour. They have extended out now and put the ramps not quite out of the harbour area, but towards the edge of it. They are more prone to getting big bangs during big swells, high tides and storms. It is a kind of trellis structure, for those who may not have been through Holyhead. It is nothing like the sea wall that was here coming into Dublin Port or particularly in Dún Laoghaire of old and the old sea walls at any of the piers around the country. It is now this trellis structure out into the sea. Those who have put in this repair have now got into maintenance. The structure has sort of legs on the main wall with a gantry in between for the dockers to move between ships and whatever. However, by keeping the newer schedule, we have a spare ramp. In changing the direct service line, Stena Line is going to improve the structure at Fishguard. It will have a better multifunctional ramp. The same should be in Holyhead. That spare ramp should be multifunctional so that if ever we get hit in Pembroke, Liverpool or Fishguard with storms, the second ramp will be up. The trials should be done so that any shipping in the Irish Sea can go on that ramp so that we are never in that position again.