Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

The current policy on the port is as I outlined. It is a strategic port and of national importance. It is nearing its capacity and we must examine ways and means of either expanding that capacity or operating in a different manner. We cannot do that in isolation from a range of considerations in regard to Dublin Bay, urban regeneration and various plans on which a variety of groups, including Dublin City Council, the Rail Procurement Agency, the National Roads Authority and various other bodies would have to be consulted. The current policy is that the port remains the premier port and that there is an urgent need to examine its future, how it might be developed and how that might be integrated with a range of other transport policies, urban regeneration policies and so on. That is the current position.

Part of the difficulty in regard to Dublin Port over the years is that it has not been examined strategically, rather it has been examined as a port. Furthermore, the port authorities decide to do something with little or no reference perhaps to Dublin City Council, the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, developments such as national transport policy and so on. One of the benefits of having all transport within the remit of the Department of Transport and the Marine is that we can examine these issues in an integrated way, and that is what I intend to do.

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