Dr. Cecil Beamish:

It does not provide free parking but it has first access to everyone who enters the harbour with the intent of visiting the islands. The decision to provide the car park was linked to creating a modern, safe ferry terminal for the 170,000 passengers who travel to the islands. There were concerns that if the car park had been left in its original condition, claims would have been made against the State. This happens very frequently in respect of any State facility which is not kept up to scratch. That is the context in which all of this happened. I accept that there was a competitive offering made available in a much better location at which it was possible to divert traffic on its way into the harbour. That took away one part of the business and the islanders' free facility took away another. That explains how we got where we are now.