Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the representatives of both ports for their comprehensive written submissions. With the permission of the Cathaoirleach, I beg some indulgence because I have a keen and long-term interest in the Rosslare Europort. I will address my questions to Mr. Carr. From a constituency perspective, Deputy Haughey may well veer his focus towards Dublin Port. I had the privilege of visiting Dublin Port in advance of Brexit. I was very impressed by what goes on there. There are a number of questions I would like to ask Mr. Carr.

Prior to Brexit, the committee looked at its likely impact. We argued cogently and clearly that there would be a need for additional direct services from the Republic of Ireland to continental Europe. That was denied by the Irish Maritime Development Office for a time, which stated that the existing companies could do what was necessary. Our view has certainly been vindicated. The extraordinary increase to the number of sailings from Rosslare Port - a total of 36 - to new destinations such as Dunkirk is testimony to that.

I have a couple of questions for Mr. Carr in respect of where we are now. On the UK traffic volumes being down 36%, as he has presented to the committee, is that simply a dislodging of old land bridge traffic or is there something else at play in respect of the consequences of Brexit that we need to be aware of and that we might be able to address?

My next question is on the development in the port. The temporary border inspection facility outside of the port was never a viable entity. The notion that customs checks were carried out by telling trucks to pull up the road after a while was never going to be acceptable in the longer term, but it was an emergency situation. It is now going to be encompassed by the funding provided by the European Union through the Brexit adjustment reserve fund. I am very concerned about the timing of that. It has not commenced yet. We had both the Commission and the President of the European Court of Auditors before this committee and they were very clear in telling us this has a timeline and the works should be or will be completed by the end of 2024. We have not started yet in Rosslare. Will Mr. Carr give the committee a very clear timeline on the completion of the works that are being funded by the Brexit adjustment reserve fund? These works are the perimeter fencing, the alternative customs inspection facilities, lighting, marshalling and the other bits of it. When will it commence and when does he expect all of that to be completed?

On other investment, with all due respect to Government announcements and so on, I have not heard that a cent of money has been allocated to Rosslare Europort other than the 100% European funding. With regard to the master plan, what moneys will be invested, and when will we know the colour of the moneys that will be invested, by Irish Rail directly and by the State in ensuring we have a viable port to facilitate offshore renewable energy? We have done a great deal of work on this at the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly, and it is quite clear from visiting ports like Belfast and Liverpool that they are ready now. To my mind, we do not have a port that is available now to facilitate offshore wind and we are driving like mad to increase the supply of renewable energy into the system, particularly after the atrocious invasion of Ukraine.

Mr. Kenny rightly said Dublin is a tier 1 port. Rosslare, although it is the second busiest port in the country, is not a tier 1 port. I am not clear about one aspect of that and it is a follow-on from Senator Chambers’s question. Is the restoration of the rail link to Waterford a material issue in gaining the tier 1 qualification for Rosslare?

We were a bit disconcerted to see the headline in my local newspaper, theWexford People, this week, “Rosslare Europort risks squandering the ‘golden gift’ of a major Brexit boom”, which paraphrases something said by the president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, who will be giving evidence before the committee. I will put the same question to him later. I would like to give Mr. Carr the opportunity, if he would like to avail of it, to respond to that and to the detailed newspaper article about the number of port operatives who are leaving or resigning in protest at working conditions in the port. I would be obliged if Mr. Carr might address that issue.