Mr. Brendan Newsome:

The RDF comes from the Greyhound company in Dublin city. The company packages the bales. There was initially a slight perfume off them, but the wrapping is solving that problem. If they get wet, there is a slight problem, but the company has worked on it and it has turned out to be a win-win because the reliance on landfill sites has been reduced. We are falling into a trap in this regard and will be penalised if we do not scale down the reliance on landfill sites. The bales go to Germany and Holland where they are incinerated and the energy generated is fed into their national grids. One might ask why we do not have incineration facilities, but that is a different discussion.

With regard to Deputy Dessie Ellis's question about more business, we hope that if there is a levelling off or even an upturn, there will be a return to timber. We only need approximately 5,000 tonnes to double the current tonnage in the port. Wicklow Port was one of the biggest importers of timber. However, we lost one of our plasterboard products as a result of competition from our big brother in town, but we will not complain about competition because we are heavily engaged in it and remain one of the most competitive ports on the east coast.

The Deputy asked how many we employed. We have a chief executive officer who is the harbour master and has a part-time secretary in the office. We also have a general operative. They are the directly employed personnel, but most of the people working in the port are from Wicklow and employed by the stevedores who employ people to operate cranes, hoists and forklifts. A carrier company also employs many people.

We work closely with the chamber of commerce which is also involved in tourism and, for example, in developing the old jail in the town. Wicklow Port is less than 100 yards from the main street and, therefore, close to activities in the town. That is one reason the expenditure of €1 million on the south quay was a big help to those on the main street because we are able to divert traffic on to the quay and it is a much better organised and efficient service.

With regard to our aims for the future, we are still looking for niche products that can be exported in a reasonably good manner from the port. Like my own company, when there is a recession, sales are down. On the financial side, no matter how much costs are controlled, there will be no miracles if a company does not retain sales. That is where we are and competition is fierce. Not only are we experiencing a recession, everybody else is cutting costs and looking for a slice of the action. While the port continues to seek niche business, we are under no illusions about the challenge to be faced in the next few years until the economy recovers to a reasonable level. I am confident that will happen, given the manner in which issues are being tackled. I do not know that there is much more about which I can assure the Deputy.

We continue to seek opportunities with the help of the chief executive officer and the stevedores who are in the marketplace all the time looking for more business. I am happy and confident that business will pick up, but the secret is when a company is in a depression, that it must look after its cash because it will not get any when it runs out from the banks. That has been a good policy for my company and I try to use the same criterion as chairman of the port audit committee. It is not the most popular thing to do to tell others that we should hold on to money until the economy picks up and that we should wait to see how our operating accounts are going. We should not spend it all in one go and be forced to go to the banks which will say "No". We would then have to go the Minister who will say he cannot give it to us and the Department will also state there is no money available. Our policy to date has been prudent and wise in preserving our balance sheet and cash.