Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Today is a say day for Dún Laoghaire. Stena Line announced that it will not be renewing its Dún Laoghaire Harbour ferry contract, which expires on 14 April next. This marks the end of over 20 years of Stena Line ferry sailings to Dún Laoghaire. It is truly the end of an era for Dún Laoghaire. Passenger sailings from the harbour span almost two centuries. Like thousands of others in this country, I have memories of aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and neighbours emigrating to England and from there on to the US.

Up until recent days, the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company and Stena Line had engaged in active discussions on the delivery of a seasonal service. This morning, Stena Line has advised that it is unable to secure a suitable smaller vessel and has now decided not to resume operations on this route. It will consolidate its business interests in Dublin Port. That is all very well for Dublin Port, but what about Dún Laoghaire? The harbour was designated for marine leisure tourism by the Government in March 2014 and yet has seen nothing happen. There is no definitive legislative framework underpinning the harbour being taken under the administrative remit of the local government. When is this going to happen? When will we see this Bill published? It is now imperative.

Dún Laoghaire Harbour has been left adrift today. Although it is one of the most beautiful harbours in Ireland, there are no plans for its future survival. There are jobs to be sustained, while a tourism and business industry has been left wanting. I recognise that in recent years there has been a declining demand for its ferry services, but we must work to ensure the continued success of the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company. We need to find solutions and stop dithering. I urge the Minister to set up a task force immediately in response to today's announcement by Stena Line.

On the plus side, there are emerging commercial activities on the horizon such as the growing cruise ship business. Dún Laoghaire Harbour badly needs Government support. This year it will attract 100,000 cruise ship passengers and crew. The numbers have grown significantly since 2011 when there were no such passengers. In 2013 there were 19,951, while in 2015 we will have 100,000 registered passengers. This business has beendeveloped through collaboration and the downright hard work of the board of the harbour company, the Dún Laoghaire Business Improvement District and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, with little support from other Government agencies. A planning application for a new berth for the next generation of cruise ships has only recently been submitted to An Bord Pleanála and we await its decision. The growing cruise ship business will have significant economic spin-off value for Dún Laoghaire and Ireland. It will showcase the country to 100,000 tourists. Following the loss of Stena Line, it is crucial that the application for the new cruise ship berth be given strong consideration.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter after Stena Line announced a consolidation of its services from Holyhead to Dublin Port. I am more than aware that the news will come as a major disappointment to everyone in Dún Laoghaire Harbour and the wider Dún Laoghaire community. I recognise the Deputy's comments and share her disappointment. I worked in Stena Line in Dún Laoghaire for two summers and have an understanding of how important the service is not only to Dún Laoghaire Harbour but also to the broader community, as the Deputy outlined.

Today the company stated it would be concentrating on expanding its existing ferry service at Dublin Port and confirmed that it was withdrawing its HSS Stena Explorerservice from Dún Laoghaire Harbour. Stena Line has operated the HSS Stena Explorerto Dún Laoghaire since 1996 with a mix of passengers, car and coach traffic. The Dún Laoghaire service was successful for several years following its introduction and carried over 1.7 million passengers annually during its peak in 1998. However, post the withdrawal of duty free shopping, passenger and car volumes declined dramatically and by 2014 fewer than 150,000 ferry passengers travelled through Dún Laoghaire Harbour. This represents a decline of over 90% by volume and, combined with increasing fuel and operating costs, has made the route unsustainable. The company reduced the services of the HSS Stena Explorerfrom Dún Laoghaire on 13 September 2011, operating a seasonal-only service from Dún Laoghaire to Holyhead from April to September. The company has stated Ireland remains a strategically important region and that it has invested over £250 million in its Irish Sea business in the past five years. However, Car and passenger volumes in Dublin Port overtook those in Dún Laoghaire as far back as 2008. Volumes through Dublin Port have since continued to grow, thus providing Stena Line with a stark choice in respect of its future route network in the region.

As a company set up under the Harbours Act 1996, Dén Laoghaire Harbour Company has a statutory mandate to take all proper measures for the management, control, operation and development of Dún Laoghaire Harbour and is required to conduct its business in a cost-effective and efficient manner. In recent years the company has been restructuring its business to keep it on a sustainable financial footing and enable the harbour to develop and operate on a commercial basis in the future.

The policy on Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company was published in the Government's national ports policy 2013. The position is that designated ports of regional significance, including Dún Laoghaire Harbour, will transfer to more appropriate local authority-led governance structures. In May 2014 the Government approved the general scheme of the harbours (amendment) Bill 2014. In October 2014 the Oireachtas joint committee published its consideration of the heads of the Bill which is with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for legal drafting. I expect to seek Government approval for publication of the Bill within this quarter and to move it into the Oireachtas before the summer. The Bill will provide the necessary framework to allow for the transfer of control of Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company to local authority-led structures. The Deputy asked me a specific question about timing. I anticipate and intend to ensure the Bill will be in the Oireachtas before the summer and that I will have Government approval of its full drafting in the coming weeks. My Department has been involved in ongoing meetings with all relevant ports, local authorities and others stakeholders. I have received correspondence from Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company on the matter today. I acknowledge that the Deputy has contacted me separately about it. I intend to meet the board in the coming weeks to engage on the matters the Deputy has raised.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased to hear the Minister acknowledge that the company has restructured its business, cut its costs and is seeking alternative income streams. I have referred to cruise liners. We would like to receive support in Dún Laoghaire to work with the council, the business improvement district scheme and the harbour board. I have mentioned that the cruise liners are important, but also of importance are the detailed proposals submitted to the Government for an international diaspora centre. This world-class visitor attraction could be accommodated in the empty 80,000 sq. ft. ferry terminal building. Owing to the decision of Stena Line this morning, the building will be available immediately and the proposal makes commercial sense. I have heard other venues being proposed, but I call on the Minister to give serious consideration to the situation in Dún Laoghaire where in the past Irish people left in their droves to seek work on foreign shores. Let their sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters return to our shores and be given a céad míle fáilte in a world-class diaspora centre in Dún Laoghaire. These new ventures, the cruise liner business and the diaspora centre, coupled with the task force, would help in some way to mitigate the great disappointment felt in Dún Laoghaire today.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I recognise the changes Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company has made and acknowledge many of the difficulties the company has faced. It has not been easy work. The company has put considerable effort into dealing with its financial status. In view of this, while it was known that there was this possibility, for it to actually materialise is a great disappointment for everyone involved in the port and the wider community.

The Deputy asked how we could make progress to deal with the matter. I confirm that it is my intention to ensure the relevant legislation will be brought before the Oireachtas before the summer.

I will work with the Whip to get as much time as possible to engage with everybody here on it.

Regarding Deputy Mitchell O'Connor's proposals for a task force, I would like to meet with the board first and will keep everybody informed of when I will do that. It appears that the proposed framework for integrating the harbour company into the local authority has even more relevance and urgency because of what we are now dealing with. I have heard the Deputy speak on a number of occasions about the challenges Dún Laoghaire faces and how integral the port is. The best way to respond to this is by the firm integration of the port with the local authority and everybody working in unison to respond to this challenge.

I am aware of the progress Dún Laoghaire and Dún Laoghaire port company have made in respect of the cruise ship business. I have met them twice since coming into office and they have pointed to the rapid growth in this area, as Deputy Mitchell O'Connor has indicated and which I recognise, but also their plans for the future and the stability they already have in bookings for this year and beyond.

The matter of the diaspora centre has been raised with me by many colleagues. I am considering how to move this project forward because many different groups across the country believe it should be located in various places. I am weighing up how that can be responded to, but as the Deputy referenced earlier, a cornerstone of our response to what is happening to the port is supporting people in finding diverse and wide-ranging sources of income. That is why I will meet the board, we will have a discussion about what has happened and we will see if mutually agreeable next steps can be made to respond to the challenge the Deputy has outlined to the House.