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

This saga of due diligence has gone on at length and the harbour company has not signed off on the draft referred to by the Minister. It seems to want to do everything to slow down and delay this process, and our examination of the workings of a totally dysfunctional entity that needs to be dissolved. I ask the Minister to directly intervene as the main shareholder to stay the plan to evict the Genealogical Society of Ireland, which is a hugely important community and national resource for heritage that in particular serves the elderly community which involves itself in the activities of the society. The society is a model of such societies and is linked in with an international network of genealogical societies, universities and so on. The eviction of the Genealogical Society of Ireland is just another instance of a company that has attempted to sell off parts of the harbour, that is talking about a harebrained plan for a "flotel", that wants to borrow €18 million to build a giant cruise berth that nobody wants and that is now planning to lease the old terminal building for ten years, all of which are contrary to the interests and aspirations of the people of Dún Laoghaire. The company continues to act as a law unto itself. When will this charade end and when will the public get back control of Dún Laoghaire Harbour? I ask the Minister to help the Genealogical Society of Ireland.

See this speech in context