Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We have our history regarding the 1798 rebellion, the John F. Kennedy family homestead and various other sites of interest such as Hook Head, Enniscorthy Castle, Johnstown Castle and Fethard Castle, which the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, will visit tomorrow. We also have the National Opera House and many more attractions that are unrecognised and in need of urgent attention, such as Duncannon Port and our marine tourism sector. It is easy to see why County Wexford is a prime destination for tourists.

With all of this in mind, I want to draw attention to passenger traffic at Rosslare Europort. Many of Ireland's and Wexford's tourists enter the country through Rosslare. I hope the Government is listening and will prepare accordingly. Prior to Brexit, the Government was almost lulled into a false sense of security by relying on an Irish Maritime Development Office report that argued sufficient capacity was available on existing continental ferry routes to absorb demand after Brexit. In the meantime, freight numbers have increased by almost 500% while the number of ferry sailings from Rosslare, with the introduction of some new routes to the European mainland, is 28 sailings six days a week in and out of the country, with incoming sailings on Sunday. This is fantastic news. I worked very hard to make some of this happen but it has to be said that any progress that was made at Rosslare Europort after Brexit is down to bodies such as the Irish Road Haulage Association, in consultation with private shipping operators, which got no encouragement from the Government or Departments.

Because of short-term charters of ships and the lack of availability of ships to charter, capacity is now dropping. We are not out of the woods by any means. Since Brexit and Covid, we have not had a proper tourist season. This means that more of a ship's commercial capacity will be set aside for tourists once the demand increases through the summer season and the tourists return. As we return to normal and summer holidays become the norm again, and we hope we will see a return to pre-pandemic levels of passenger demand on our ferry routes, it is vital that we have this for the recovery. We must ensure we have capacity to bring people onto this island. The warning is simple. As passenger traffic numbers return to normal, we will have capacity issues at our most strategic port if action is not taken. At present, ferry operators are at full capacity with freight alone. Therefore, a return to pre-pandemic passenger traffic will see an issue with either passengers or freight been turned away. We do not want a situation where anyone has to be turned away.

I have long called for real State investment in Rosslare Europort in order to develop the facilities to allow the port to reach its full potential as a freight and passenger hub. We have heard the same €30 million being announced for the port again and again. I understand that some of this money will be used to build another customs post, purely to comply with EU directives, rather than the Government asking for a derogation in respect of it and using the existing infrastructure on which we spent €11 million to facilitate customs. The portion of the money for building the new structure could be used to deepen the port and add an extra pier so we would have greater capacity to attract ships that need deeper waters and which carry more passengers and freight.

Money is easy to spend but spending it in the most sensible, beneficial and strategic way is what I want to see for Rosslare. I could head into a shoe shop and buy a pair of shoes for €100 but if they are the wrong size then my €100 is a waste and not an investment. I do not want to see waste at Rosslare. I want to see sensible investment and I would like to see it quickly. Ensuring our port is capable of catering for freight and passenger demand in a normal summer season is critical to the recovery of the tourism sector. We can only take advantage of the growth in wind energy if the ports infrastructure is significantly upgraded, the waters deepened and an extra pier is added on quay side. It is imperative that we keep the 9% VAT rate for the tourism sector. Neither tourists nor the sector itself have had an opportunity to take advantage of it.

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