Ms Eithne Scott-Lennon:

I will answer the Deputy's question to the best of my ability. Much of the 47 acre land bank is vacant or open space. For this reason, part of the master plan involves development, although I do not anticipate a need to reclaim any more land. It is planned to develop the land that is available. We will be careful and sensitive in how the land is developed.

As I stated, the vision for Dún Laoghaire Harbour is for it to be a living and vibrant place. Currently, it closes down at 6 p.m. If any of the members were to walk around the harbour after daylight hours, they would find the area is dead. Our vision is to bring the area to life and for this reason our plans include an element of living. We will focus on that and job creation will come from some of the retail plans we have. There will be a good mix and balance of retail and residential development. That is where we envisage job creation taking place. The development will be phased and planned and will be ratified with each section of the plan as we proceed.

On employee numbers, I agree that we have faced significant challenges. Management has had a very challenging time purely because of the decline in ferry business, which has suffered because of low cost air fares. I am great believer that all things are cyclical. If one can be innovative and creative and work closely with carriers, one can offer exciting alternatives to queuing up at airports and facing hand baggage restrictions and the many other awful things I personally hate when I have to go to an airport these days. There is hope for us yet.