Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister will be aware, the due diligence process has already run into trouble and has stalled because of so-called commercial sensitivity issues. This speaks volumes about the problem that I have been trying to convey to the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and his predecessor for the past four years. We do not know what is going on in Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company and we do not know its financial position because it is not accountable. The An Bord Pleanála hearing which took place over the last four weeks was a pretty extraordinary event. It is unprecedented for a hearing of that type to continue for four weeks. The level of participation by stakeholders, harbour users, community groups and so on was extraordinary. With the exception of the harbour company, there was overwhelming opposition to what the harbour company proposes to do with the harbour and overwhelming dissatisfaction about the fact that the public and harbour users have no influence or say in this process. They are not being taken seriously and are systematically ignored.

The public view is that the harbour should be brought under public control, although under the control of the elected representatives of the council rather than the CEO. We have proposed a stakeholders group that involves all of the people who are passionate and concerned and genuine stakeholders in the harbour. What is the Minister's view on this?

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