Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I look forward to seeing both of those reviews which are going to be very important in signalling whether the Government and Departments have taken an active and positive look at how we could redistribute some of the activity that is going on. Dublin is creaking at the seams, there is no doubt, not alone Dublin Port. There is a massive opportunity for housing and office development on the port lands, as has been mentioned many times. There does not seem to be a will in terms of policy to really look at the outside ports, particularly Rosslare Europort and Waterford Port. The strategic location of the south east should not be missed in terms of the amount of carbon we are generating cycling up and down in to Dublin Port as opposed to dropping to more adjacent ports. The big opportunity is for rail freight into Waterford. Baxter Healthcare recently announced a new agreement on freight transport into Waterford. It shows what can be done with a little bit of imagination. We would need greater capacity which must be delivered through some kind of railhead in the Kildare area, I would think. I hope to see that in the rail review.

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