Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Rosslare Europort is unique among the State-owned ports, as it is not a commercial company operating under the Harbours Acts but is instead operated as a division of Iarnród Éireann.

Iarnród Éireann recently completed a detailed report on Rosslare and a €15 million plan to transform Rosslare Europort has been approved by the board of Irish Rail. Investment in the port is a matter for the company and Iarnród Éireann is examining how it will raise the capital necessary for planned investment. I understand that the company also intends to appoint a business development and sales manager to promote the port. Last week, Iarnród Éireann and Rosslare Europort briefed my Department on the company's plan for strategic development of the port over the coming years.

The Deputy will be interested to know that there is also ongoing engagement between my Department and the port on Brexit. The efficiency of Ireland's logistics sector has been built up over many years on the basis of the advantages provided under the Single Market. Brexit has the potential to disrupt this logistics supply chain. In response, a whole-of-Government approach has been adopted on our key ports and airports through the establishment of an interdepartmental committee.

The OPW, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Health, supported by my Department and other Departments, are working together with Rosslare Europort to plan to manage and minimise any impacts that may arise at the port as a result of Brexit. Plans are being developed under both a central case scenario and a no-deal scenario to minimise any future disruption to the port as a result of the UK becoming a third country. Over the past months, there have been numerous meetings between Rosslare Europort and the individual Departments to identify the requirements for the port and to plan for their establishment. The port authorities have also met on a couple of occasions with the full interdepartmental committee.

The Deputy may recall that I visited Rosslare Europort earlier this year at the invitation of my ministerial colleague, Deputy Paul Kehoe, and was briefed by the europort's management on its commercial position. This was a particularly valuable opportunity for me as Minister to witness the central role that Rosslare Europort plays within the economy of Wexford and the wider south east, and to see at first hand its potential in terms of future development as a vital part of our country’s trading infrastructure.

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