Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party)
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It is disappointing that representatives from Rossaveel could not be here today. I know they were also contacted by the committee and could not make it.

It is quite clear from many conversations I have had that the important thing is long-term planning. As has been said, it will be some time before planning is through and yet we need the port infrastructure to be in place and ready, and that gives confidence to the market as well.

The witnesses have spoken about the first four projects that obviously had successful bidders last week, one of those being Galway. However, when we look at the potential, particularly on the west coast, what I hear from the ports I am in contact with, whether that be in Killybegs, Rossaveel or the Port of Galway, is that they also need the same kind of long-term security.

I am delighted to hear Mr. Keating mention the multi-port strategic development. That is certainly what we saw when we went on a delegation to Scotland. Developers can say they are going to use this port and then some way down the line find that it is actually not the best port for what they need and they need to look at alternatives. If the alternatives are not there, the business is lost and the potential for Ireland is lost.We certainly saw that with Moray East when we were there. The plan had been to go with one port and then it shifted to another one. It is important that we keep on saying that because I can see that competitiveness sometimes slips in into conversations and I do not think it is helpful for anybody.

I want to go back to what the Chair mentioned at the start about rail down the west coast as well the south east. That is really important. The more we can put on the record the importance of that for the witnesses' industry both in terms ofORE but also other kinds of plans they have for their ports, the better. Obviously, we are concentrating on ORE but in my experience, all ports have several streams. In order to keep above board and stay afloat, for want of a better term, they need to ensure they have all those bases covered. Those are my general points. Many of the other points have been covered.