Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am concerned with this response because we know our ports have applied for TEN-T funding. As the Minister of State has said, it is competitive. They have applied and they have been unsuccessful. We know that time is ticking and that we have a huge infrastructural deficit in our ports, which is within the responsibility of the Department, albeit we know they are commercial operations. There needs to be a mindset shift and the Department, the Minister of State and the Minister need to look at every option. The national ports study from the sector was good and useful and the Department has its own work ongoing on the ports policy but time is of the essence. I want to see the Minister of State outline what the investment will be in 2023, in whatever shape or form, to get the ball rolling on this because time is of the essence.

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