John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I understand it, the Bill allows for the transfer of shareholdings in certain port companies to local authorities, and for the transfer of certain port companies to local authority control. I support the premise. The amendment refers to stakeholders and community groups and is about proper utilisation of ports.

We dealt with fishing ports on the Committee of Public Accounts and I have experience with Waterford Port Company. The control of State ports has in recent history been divested to entities of the State that may not have been the most suitable to manage them. Sticking to fishing ports from Killybegs to Ros a Mhíl, Dingle, Castletownbere, Dunmore East, Kilmore Quay and up to Howth, for example, the Committee of Public Accounts went to Howth and took a look. We had received correspondence from users in the port. We found a lot of vacant buildings, yet people were trying to conduct business from the backs of vans. The responsible Department at first was the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, and now it is the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which has made some strides. It was awful; it was a desperate experience to have to deal with the old Department.

Deputy Boyd Barrett talked about the harbour user meetings. They are a box ticking exercise which occur every year and are completely unproductive. They became an exercise in which the officials went in, listened to the individuals who use the ports, then left and did not really do anything afterwards. That is a fact. That is what we found. It was the case not just in one isolated port but in a number of fishing ports. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has made really big strides. When it came to the fishing ports, rents had not been collected for two years by the specific Department. Agriculture has cleaned it up. The Comptroller and Auditor General has been dealing with this for years. It proves the point.

Are we taking the ports and their potential seriously? Frankly, we have not done so over the last ten or 15 years. In the last five or six years there has been a recession, but we need to start looking at the ports as key infrastructure as far as development is concerned. If that is the essence of getting the locals involved and using the ports properly, that has to be supported. It is a valuable point which relates not just to Dún Laoghaire but also to ports like in Waterford and all the fishing ports. That has been found to be the case. It is not a matter of conjecture.

It is a function of Government which could be an awful lot better, although it is improving. Dunmore East is a fishing port which has been in a dreadful situation. The buildings that were used for fishing factories are now, in many cases, completely shut. They provided an awful lot of employment but have been vacant for a very long time. There are legacy issues as far as arrears are concerned.

A point not specifically an issue for the Department of Tourism, Transport and Sport, but for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in dealing with the fishing ports, is that the right State actors have not been involved in the ports. For example, Enterprise Ireland, which I met about this, should have an input into these fish factories. It should be able to tell people who are manufacturing fish products what the markets are in Europe and around the world and what can be achieved within the port buildings that are lying idle. I met the head of Enterprise Ireland and have talked to the head of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and that process has started, although I do not know how indepth their discussions have been. I know they have met a couple of times. That really needs to be accelerated. It is a practical point which would make the ports more productive for the economy.

Our experience in Waterford has been dreadful. The State port there was run into the ground by the management. Ten years ago when Fianna Fáil was in government, I asked for a management review and was completely ignored. It has taken this Government to take it seriously and completely change senior management within the port - the CEO, the chairman of the board and most of the board itself. That has been necessary. It has taken too long but at least we have done it. In the 1980s, our port in Waterford was one of the largest in Europe. Tonnage-wise it was enormous but it was driven into the ground. The warnings given to the last Administration fell on deaf ears. Already we are seeing results from the new CEO. Infrastructure is being developed across the board in Waterford Port and Dunmore East with the dredging there.

The sense and premise of these amendments is something we have found to be correct in the Committee of Public Accounts with regard to the fishing ports. It is not just my experience but was a lengthy process in which the Comptroller and Auditor General has been involved as well as the committee. I support the sentiment of what is entailed in the amendments.

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