John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I chaired the select committee that discussed Committee Stage of this Bill and wish to raise an issue concerning Galway Harbour. I am not quite sure it is relevant to this section of the debate, but I raise it so we can deal with it now.

A major plan for the development of Galway Port has already been submitted to the planning authorities, but this Bill has implications for that plan in the context of the criteria for the categorisation of ports and these could affect the decision made by the planning authorities. Of all the major ports, Galway is to be categorised as a tier 3 port under the local authority, a categorisation based on tonnage and percentage of traffic. However, the reason the port was not eligible for categorisation in a higher tier was its lack of development. It is the only port in the country that one can walk from to the city centre in ten minutes, which offers huge potential.

I am calling for the categorisation of ports that is included in this Bill to be put in abeyance until development applications already in the process are made, so that if planning permission is granted, those ports do not then find out they are excluded from certain streams of funding, such as TEN-T funding. I urge the Minister to consider these points and to address them in his response.

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