Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I have not yet met representatives of Stena Line but I will make contact with them to put whatever pressure I can on them regarding this route but a service is provided all year round from Dublin Port, which is 20 minutes up the road. Stena Line is withdrawing the service from Dún Laoghaire because there are not enough passengers to sustain the route, given the costs associated with operating a fast boat with high fuel costs while carrying few paying passengers.

I was only made aware of the other issue raised by the Deputy in the past few days by his constituency colleague, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor, and I was in touch with the chairman of the harbour company yesterday about it. I understand that expenses for attending board meetings from overseas are being repaid.

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