Ms Eithne Scott-Lennon:

I thank the Senator. I would encourage her to visit our website where she can have a good look at the master plan. I was a member of the steering committee which developed the plan and as such I am conscious of access to water. One of the problems for local communities has always been a lack of access to water. Some people believe it is only for sailing clubs and so on. The master plan provides for so much more direct access to the water for every man, woman and child. It is really exciting from that perspective. I suggest that the Senator study the master plan. Every part of it provides for water access around the whole perimeter of the development, which is exciting. It even makes provision for sail training. I do not propose to go into the plan in detail now.

In terms of the components of the plan, I agree that the ferry business was vitally important to Dún Laoghaire. I have already mentioned that one issue was that of the cost of fuel for vessels. The HSS could be compared to the Concorde. What Stena does is its own business. However, it has a contract with the harbour which does not expire until April 2015 and will honour that contract. What it proposes to do beyond that, we do not know. We are hopeful it will continue to hold a presence in Dún Laoghaire. It is possible it will put a traditional ferry in place. We will have the facilities to cater for ferries, vessels and, in time, the new age cruise ships. We have no intention of closing out ferry business, we will welcome it with open arms and will strive to retain it if we can.

In terms of the town, increasing the cruise passenger numbers will increase the flow up-town, thus helping in the revival of Dún Laoghaire. There is great community collaboration and co-operation between the county council, local business associations and ourselves. We have good relationships. I believe we can build on those and, if we work together, can achieve a great deal.