Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Morrissey for providing me with this opportunity to report to the Seanad on certain matters concerning Dublin Port Company. As indicated in response to Parliamentary Question No. 155 of 3 May 2006, there are no proposals to move Dublin Port from its current location, which the Senator has welcomed. As the Senator is no doubt aware, Dublin Port is a State-owned company established under the Harbours Act 1996. It is the country's premier port in terms of throughput and turnover and, as such, is of vital strategic importance to our trading economy. Some 99% of our goods go through our ports, which makes them and Dublin Port, in particular, so important. The 1996 Act provides that the principal objectives of the company include the provision of such facilities, services and lands in its harbour for ships, goods and passengers, as it considers necessary. The company is required to take all proper measures for the management, control, operation and development of its harbour. Decisions regarding the use of the land within the port estate are primarily a matter for the port company.

One of the key challenges that lies ahead for our commercial ports, including Dublin, is the provision of adequate port capacity to meet growing demand, particularly for unitised trade, such as containerised trailers and roll-on, roll-off trucks. In January 2005, when responsibility for ports policy was with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, I, as Minister of State at that Department, launched the Government's ports policy statement. The policy statement aims to better equip the port sector and its stakeholders to meet national and regional capacity and service needs and sets out a framework to ensure that capacity needs are identified, planned and progressed in a co-ordinated manner.

As part of this process, in September 2005, that Department appointed a firm of consultants expert in this field, Fisher Associates, to carry out a capacity study. They were to invite detailed project submissions from the commercial ports and evaluate those submissions in advance of the Department's recommendations to Government. The purpose of this process is to help determine whether the anticipated capacity requirement to 2014 and beyond can be efficiently and adequately met by the port sector without recourse to the Exchequer. Seven submissions were received from ports around the country. The submission from Dublin Port Company included a project related to the proposed reclamation of some 21 hectares of foreshore in the port, to which the Senator referred. The final report of Fisher Associates was delivered to the Department in early June 2006 and the findings of the study will be reported upon to Government shortly.

In 1999, Dublin Port Company applied for approval under the Foreshore Acts for the proposed reclamation of an area of some 21 hectares of foreshore. This application is still before the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, which has responsibility for foreshore licences and is not a matter for the Department of Transport. I understand that full consideration of the port company's application would involve a process of public consultation comprising making available the environmental impact statement and other information concerning the application, and an opportunity for interested persons or bodies to make submissions or observations on the proposal. Dublin Port Company's proposal would also require planning permission pursuant to the Planning and Development Act 2000. This is a matter for the local planning authority, which in the case of Dublin Port is the Dublin City Council.

As indicated in response to Parliamentary Question No. 471 of 21 April 2006, there are no plans to alter the ownership status of Dublin Port Company. The Government's policy is clearly outlined in the ports policy statement, which I launched in January 2005. It is a reflection on the successful economy and the growth of recent years. All the information was made available to Fisher Associates and we will report to Government. I expect that developments will take place in some ports standing alone or perhaps in amalgamation with other ports. We cannot stand by and allow the economy to grow without providing the necessary infrastructure. Some 99% of our goods are imported and exported through our ports. The matter is very fluid at the moment; I am monitoring it very closely and hope to make recommendations to Government in the near future.