Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I am sorry, but I would like to raise one other issue before the Minister replies. It is the role of primary legislation to set broad parameters. In other words, the finer detail of how the stakeholders would be decided should be agreed to by the elected members, which is what I propose. If the Minister believes from a drafting point of view that we need to slightly amend the wording to achieve this, I am open to that, but it is entirely reasonable for national legislation to state there is requirement on local authorities to consult genuine stakeholders in regional ports which have the characteristic of being central and integral to their towns and hinterlands. That is what I am trying to achieve. That is the overwhelming feeling and it is even the stated objective of the harbour company to be integrated with the town and region, although it has not achieved this, in respect of which I have set out examples.

The Minister referred to People Before Profit, the Anti-Austerity Alliance and so on. I would be happy for legislation to structure an engagement with stakeholders. I learned so much at the oral hearing. I met people from the harbour whom I did not know existed. They had an incredible range of historical, heritage, financial and practical operational knowledge and expertise. It was brilliant in a sense; it was just tragic that it had happened six years too late. That is the thrust of what I am saying.