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

An issue that comes up consistently is ports infrastructure. Deputy Kenny and others have raised this consistently. It is almost a matter of chicken and egg. The ports need a commitment from developers before they can secure funding; the developers cannot commit when they do not know the infrastructure will be in place. The clock is ticking on these projects, particularly the phase 1 projects and it is phase 1 developers I am talking about. There is an indication ports are in for European funding but they have been unsuccessful in securing such funding in the past. Can the Minister give any assurance they will be successful? Does he have any sense one way or another? If they are not successful, is there a contingency plan? Will the State intervene, as has been the case in other jurisdictions?

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