Mr. Des Whelan:

There are several factors as to why the port has suffered, the main one being the recession and the associated reduction in business. Ports like Foynes, Cork and Dublin are very busy and, from what I can see, Waterford did lose contracts to Dublin and elsewhere, which we will have to work to win back. That will not happen overnight, but we are now in a very competitive position. Anybody who drives regularly between Waterford and Dublin will be aware of the improvement compared with five or six years ago. There have been fantastic infrastructural improvements.