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

Of course, a harbour is not Killiney Hill, but there is a mix of imperatives involved and the balance of these imperatives depends on the particular harbour. Dún Laoghaire Harbour has traditionally been half and half, so to speak. It has been a public amenity for heritage, sport and recreation as well as a commercial port. There is a balance to be maintained and I accept that this makes the question of governance a bit more complicated. I am not being flippant or glib about this, but it is not acceptable that the heritage and amenity aspect of the harbour, the Killiney Hill aspect if one will, which is sacrosanct for so many, is under threat. If the Minister suggested building apartments on Killiney Hill or Howth Head, people would tear his head off, to put it bluntly. They would simply say, "That's not on." There is that same feeling about Dún Laoghaire Harbour. People accept and indeed support the idea that the harbour has a commercial life but they believe that the balance between its commercial life and its historic position as an amenity owned by the public must be maintained in a sustainable and tenable way. However, that is not happening and the governance structures that exist in what is effectively a semi-State quango, mean that the balance is being threatened and undermined. The public is being excluded. Getting rid of this corporate subsidiary structure and fully integrating the harbour into the council is the way to resolve this issue in order that we can have joined up, connected thinking and prevent any possibility of the harbour being privatised.

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