Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I understand the Senator's point about Bantry and I am prepared to listen to the arguments. There are economies of scale that need to be taken into account, and this Bill is about that. There is a case for some linkage between the port of Cork and Bantry port, if only to have a responsibility for a body of the State for the oil refinery facilities in Whitegate and the oil storage facilities in Whiddy. It would make sense to have somebody responsible for both, rather than having the responsibility divided in two. I heard what other Members said, and I believe that is the intent of what is proposed in the Bill. We can discuss on Committee Stage whether that is a good or a bad thing.

We are discussing a reduction in the number of ports that are recognised in this legislation. If the identification of these ports is not linked with an overall transportation plan that has identified rail links and identifies where the goods are coming from and going to within a set radius of each port, we will not achieve the potential of existing ports.

I welcome what the Bill seeks to do and I recognise it as a further evolution of a policy that still has a journey to go before it is fully fledged. The debate today and the examination of the Bill on Committee Stage, and discussion in the other House, will allow us to develop a policy that, sadly, for an island nation for too long has not been fully developed.