James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I want to raise the issue of Rosslare Europort. As the Minister will be aware, the port is unique among the ports in Ireland in that it is not a commercial port under the Harbours Act but is, in fact, a port operated by Iarnród Éireann.

The port has a complex ownership with Fishguard in the UK.

A review was carried out on Rosslare Europort, the Indecon report, by the Minister's Department. Publication was refused and we had to submit a freedom of information, FOI, request. Rosslare Europort is a port with great history and massive potential. It is a port in the south east. It is a port that has the most substantial roll-on, roll-off traffic going to the UK or the Continent. As the Minister knows, 80% of goods, by volume, to the Continent travel over the UK land bridge. That will potentially be lost in the event of a hard Brexit. It seems increasingly more certain that we are barrelling towards a hard Brexit. Rosslare Europort makes a profit of approximately €2.5 million per annum, but because it is not a stand-alone company within Iarnród Éireann, that money is sucked out of Rosslare Europort to subsidise Iarnród Éireann's other activities. On the international markets, that kind of money would raise approximately €50 million. We know that because Wexford County Council is raising that kind of money on a similar margin.

I have been raising the issue since I was elected as a Deputy and pretty much nothing has happened with it. The Minister was down there a couple of weeks ago and it looked all nice and shiny. That is because Rosslare Europort, for the first time in 20 years, and no doubt in the awareness the Minister was coming down, decided to give it a lick of paint and probably spent about €20,000 or €30,000 out of the €2.5 million. We want the €2.5 million per annum to be spent on the port. I would have thought it was the kind of thing that would get on the Minister's wick. A State company is running a port into the ground. It is a port that is quite profitable. It is a port that could be a stand-alone, successful port if the money was kept in it. The port needs to be deepened, which will cost a hell of a lot of money. I appreciate that. The port can take the boats that are on the seas at the moment but it cannot take the boats that are planned because it is not deep enough. It is silting up. With the profit being made in the port leveraged on the international markets, the money can be raised to deepen the port. When the port is deepened, it would get the soil necessary to expand the port. In light of Brexit, I thought Rosslare Europort would be one of the key elements of developing contingency plans in the event that we lose the UK land bridge.

Leaving aside the Brexit situation, Rosslare Europort is being run into the ground. When one comes out of Rosslare Europort, there is not even a sign outside of it to say where one is. "Rosslare Europort" is not written anywhere. There are no flowers or painting outside of it. The place looks as if it is dead from the outside but it has massive potential. Will the Minister intervene with CIÉ and Iarnród Éireann and address the situation? The complex ownership is a red herring. It is something that could be addressed and which should be addressed within the context of Brexit. The Minister told me before Christmas he would raise it with his UK counterpart, Chris Grayling, in December, but for whatever reason it was not raised. It is a matter that should be resolved. It can be resolved without the ownership issue being resolved by simply creating a stand-alone company within CIÉ. The profits generated by the port would be kept in the port to develop it.

Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister has four minutes for his initial reply. I trust with a name like Rosslare, the Minister does not have a vested interest.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Not that I know of, but one never knows. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is topical, relevant and particularly pertinent. It is an item of great interest to me now having been there and I see there is possibly unrealised potential in Rosslare Europort. I do not want to say anything that would give too much hope of some sort of an early change but I understand the points the Deputy has made. It is something I will commit to looking at seriously with a view to any constructive changes which are brought to my attention, and I am hopeful they will be.

The Deputy is aware that Rosslare Europort is unique among the State-owned ports in that it is not a commercial company operating under the Harbours Acts but is instead operated as a division of Iarnród Éireann. The status of the port and whether its current status potentially inhibits its development was most recently considered in a strategic review commissioned by my Department and carried out by Indecon economic consultants. Its report concluded that the creation of an independent port authority would be very difficult given the port's complex legal structure. Instead, it was recommended that the port remain in public ownership and that the possibilities for increased private sector involvement be investigated.

To assist Iarnród Éireann’s overall consideration of how best to move forward, the company then engaged consultants to assess market interest. The assessment was largely positive in terms of the potential for increased private sector investment in the port. It did identify, however, possible implementation issues due to the complicated legislative basis of the port. There were difficulties but not ones that could not be overcome. Following the assessment, my Department sought and received detailed advice from the Office of the Attorney General on the matter. That advice identified a number of legal issues with any such proposal and those issues remain under consideration.

The Deputy may be interested to know that the Irish Maritime Development Office, IMDO, in conjunction with my Department, has been undertaking a study into the use of the UK land bridge by Irish importers and exporters. The purpose of this research was to establish the volume of traffic using the UK land bridge at present, the likely consequences that Brexit will have on land bridge usage and the various alternative options that may be viable. The research is being finalised, is expected to be completed shortly and should inform the potential for the future utilisation of all ports within the State, including Rosslare Europort. As I am sure the Deputy is aware, the Brexit negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union are ongoing and, as the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade have informed the House, these are at a sensitive stage in terms of agreeing a framework for the future trading relationship between the UK and the EU, including Ireland. Clearly, the outcome of that negotiation process will have implications for this country’s ports, notably Rosslare, in view of its position as an import-export trading route to mainland Europe for those businesses which, now or in the future, may wish to consider alternatives to the use of the UK land bridge. The Deputy may wish to know that Iarnród Éireann has advised that it has completed a commercial review of Rosslare Europort and is in the process of preparing a detailed business plan for the port to include consideration of the implications of Brexit.

As the Deputy mentioned, I recently visited Rosslare at the invitation of my ministerial colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, and was briefed by the Europort's management on the port’s commercial position. This was an especially valuable opportunity for me as Minister.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Rosslare Europort has massive unrealised potential and has had for some time. That is true even more so in light of Brexit as a result of the increased requirement for direct ferries to the Continent in the event of the UK land bridge being lost and in the circumstances where 80% of our goods, by volume, to the Continent, go across the UK land bridge. The port generates €2.5 million profit per annum that is sucked out of the port and which could leverage sufficient funds to make the port viable and allow it to thrive. It would be a self-sufficient port if CIÉ and Iarnród Éireann would simply leave the money in the port.

We have seen reports coming out from Dublin, Cork, Dover and Bruges ports. Ports in the north of the Continent, the UK and Ireland have issued reports on how they will tackle Brexit and the opportunities and challenges that Brexit will create, yet we have not heard a peep out of Iarnród Éireann about Rosslare Europort. Where are the plans for the port? The port will be critical, not only to Wexford and the south east but to the nation. It is our primary roll-on, roll-off port. It is also the only port or airport that has a train station going into it. It used to go right up to the front door but it was moved by Iarnród Éireann for some very strange reason that no one can figure out.

I will be interested to see the publication of both the Irish Maritime Development Office report and the Iarnród Éireann report. There was a reference in the Indecon report to the fifth option and the potential of retaining it in Iarnród Éireann's ownership and potentially looking at outside investment.

5 o’clock

Everybody in Wexford knows that was code for Iarnród Éireann keeping its €2.5 million profit from the port while trying to find some outside investor to come in and squeeze whatever little extra it could out of it. That would be the worst of every world for Rosslare Europort. The port is making a profit and a system needs to be put in place to keep that profit in the port which can then thrive and have top class potential for the country.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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It would not be irresponsible of me to say much of what Deputy James Browne said was right and that the future of the port was under active consideration. I am not promising immediate, sudden or imminent movement, but the structure of the ownership which is somewhat unorthodox certainly needs to come under more immediate scrutiny than it has. That will happen.

The port's geographical position is interesting in the context of Brexit because it is positioned so much closer to the European mainland than Dublin Port where 60% of export go to the United Kingdom. As a result, it could be considered as being somewhat different from many of the other ports. In view of the fact that Landbridge and its future are being examined, it is also well positioned. When I was at Rosslare Europort a few days ago, I met many groups. Some of the individuals from the Chamber of Commerce, and others, said Brexit might offer an opportunity to Rosslare Europort. That may be one of the few positives Brexit will bring to Ireland. The port does look somewhat sleepy at first sight, but it might be given opportunities it would not have but for Brexit because there might be diversification from other ports. That is something to be considered.

I do not want the Deputy to leave thinking this is a normal reply to a Topical Issue, which is usually to bat people off. The port has potential which the Department should consider seriously. Officials have been there in recent weeks and the Deputy has put his finger on something that could be quite exciting.