Mr. Glenn Carr:

Some of that is outside of the port's control. I understand, having talked to colleagues in other European ports who are accessing the fund, is that they are fairly much in the same boat. We must remember that we have just emerged from Covid in regard to the construction industry and the availability of materials, etc. There is a tightness in the market across Europe in all construction that we are seeing at the moment and I do not think that we will be unique if that timeline is adhered to in terms of spending that money because I think other ports in Europe are having the same problem.

On the wider issue, there is an element that once the OPW work is done or while we are doing it, we must synchronise work in place. For instance, in 2022 our capital and maintenance spend was €2.5 million and this year we plan to spend €23 million. Irish Rail has secured our funding. It is in place and has been signed off by our board. We will see substantial expenditure on our side that is aligned, because it is important that we all work in tandem with the OPW and its works. The OPW wanted one contractor on site, which from a safety and operational point of view makes perfect sense, and we are getting on with the elements that will not interfere with that. Once the heavy OPW work is completed we will finish things off from our side.

Let me explain the magnitude of our commitment. Our capital plan is €23 million in 2023. I have no doubt but that this funding will spill over into some part of 2024. The plan has been signed off by our port and is in place for that funding.

On the ORE, we have a second master plan. The initial plan involved circa €150 million. The ORE facility will cost in the region of €220 million. We have made an application under the Connecting Europe Facility, CEF, call down for this year for studies. The Deputy is right in what he said. Currently, as we speak today, no port in the Republic of Ireland has the required facility for the next generation of ORE. He is right that Belfast has facilities but I contend that Belfast is quickly filling out. Equally, ports like Belfast and Liverpool must upgrade their facilities because what they have dealt with before is not what will be dealt with going forward.

We are going through planning at the moment. We are well ahead and await our foreshore licence in May to complete our site investigations. We will lodge a planning application in late 2024. We hope to be through planning in mid-2025. That is really important because these are very tight timelines. Our ambition is to have the facility built by the end of 2026. Our engagement with all of the major players in the sector informs us that they would need something operational from 2027 onwards. While there is nothing there today, equally all of our offshore wind companies are going through a process where they are going to an auction and going through planning. I do not want to say too much as I want to show respect for the planning process but we hope to get through planning.

On funding, a number of months ago we appointed EY to advise us on the funding model for the project. We are talking to a number of institutions on investment. As we speak the policy is that ports are not directly invested in but I think that will become a lot clearer in the next few months in regard to ORE. We will present a detailed business case for ORE by the end of quarter 2 and that will be based on our detailed conversation with the market, funders and developers. Our research will tell us the typical type of revenue we can expect and the investment that is clearly required. If there is a gap, then we will have discussions on the gap because we cannot afford not to have a port with facilities. The reality is that Rosslare Europort will need to be the first port ready for phases 1 and 2 because the majority of those wind farms will be in the Irish and Celtic Seas and as Rosslare Europort will be within 60 to 100 nautical miles, it is the closest port for those facilities. Therefore, it is important that Rosslare is utilised because that feeds into the supply chain and the efficiency that goes with all of that during the ORE.

In terms of the tier 1 issue, I believe that tiers are being re-examined. At present, for Rosslare to achieve the status of tier 1, it would need a certain percentage of the national tonnage in the country. Rosslare is just a roll on-roll off port. While we would reach the tonnage in that sector, the reality is that if all of the tonnage with bulk was spread across ro-ro and lo-lo, then we would not come anywhere near the percentage. The qualification currently for tier 1 was based on a certain tonnage and we do not hit that at a national level so the situation needs to be changed.

Will we get to that with ORE? I believe we will with the significant increase in traffic that we have seen. Is tier 1 important? It is, because there are certain pots of funding in Europe to access where you must be on a particular trans-European transport network, TEN-T. I understand that a tier 1 port, although Mr. O'Connell or Mr. Sheary might correct me, there is an expectation at an EU level now that ports are rail connected in order to qualify for a tier 1 port. It is important that we understand that aspect going forward when we look at infrastructure in terms of the ports because, without doubt, across Europe the red-hot ticket at the moment is rail freight and the biggest significant investment that we are seeing across Europe is going into the rail network. Ports need to understand and accept that if they want to get access to that share, they will have to be connected and provide that type of service.

Finally, to respond to the query about the newspaper article this morning, obviously we have just seen it ourselves but I can say the following. First, in regard to staffing at Rosslare, over the last two years we have probably gone from 70 staff directly, and I mean just with ourselves, to over 105 people. Our labour turnover is less than 4% and our average length of service is over 21 years. To me, if you are not a good employer then you do not get those types of key performance indicators. If the working environment is not good then there would be a high turnover in staff. We have also never had such a buoyant labour market so people have great choice. I think that there are a lot of companies that would be very envious of having a turnover of 4%. That is not to say that things are always perfect because they are not in any shape or form. We have been extremely busy and now operate 24-7. As Mr. O'Connell has said, we must operate 24-7. Also, we must be fit and very efficient in all of our costs because we compete against other ports in Ireland for business. We owe it to our shareholder to be a good employer but we must also ensure that we always deliver best value for money. We have agreed a process in terms of our industrial relations going forward. That has now been concluded and we will offer further positions for people. I suggest that our terms and conditions are at the higher end of what is typically found both the industry and wider society.

I understand the challenges faced by the members of the Irish Road Haulage Association. As alluded to earlier, a solution will be found when everyone works together. We have seen cumulatively a 53% increase in traffic at the port. We must not lose sight of the fact that while the port has been greatly successful, the situation must be managed and at times there are pinch points. It is somewhat exaggerated that there were queues down the hill as I think that happened on only two occasions, which were caused by different issues and late sailings.

We manage that, however, and we get on with it. This weekend was one of our busiest in the port and I do not think many things happened. Regarding services, we achieve a 96% turnaround approximately of ships that come in according to their service level agreement, SLA, with us. If there were concerns around our efficiency, I am not sure we would achieve a 96% turnaround. Of the nearly 370,000 vehicles that have gone through the port in the past two years, less than 1% of damage claims have happened in Rosslare Europort, as far as I am aware. We are not perfect, by any means, but we do a very good job down there and this is great credit to our people.

We have seen great growth in the port. This has not just been within Rosslare Europort itself but also in State agencies and the shipping lines. We are seeing a vibrant community emerge. The master plan, and the new port access road, is important in respect of taking these trucks away from the village. This is all in place. Would I like this to happen faster? I would. Equally, though, I want to ensure we do this right, safely and that in a few years I am not being asked different questions about why we did something and spent money in a rush, when we could have taken our time and ensured we did these things right.