Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for that presentation. I presume a balancing act will be required. Airlines may say it is not worth providing these connections. It will be necessary to achieve some reasonable level of balance between rights and an incentive for airlines to provide those services.

The Secretary General of the Department was before the committee at a previous meeting and I raised maritime and emissions issues. Is there an opportunity for Ireland to develop incentives for more efficient maritime transport with lower emissions in place of overland transport with higher emissions? I refer to the Marco Polo initiative or the Highways of the Sea initiative. Could Ireland participate in such initiatives to further enhance our port strategies? Ninety per cent of our goods and services are transported by sea.