Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

It is very clear in that it states "the Bantry Bay Harbour Commissioners are dissolved". A Minister, but perhaps not the Minister of State present, may say in three or five years, "To hell with Bantry, we will just sign off."

The new section continues as follows:

(b) The Minister may by order appoint a day as the transfer day for the purposes of this section in respect of Tralee and Fenit Pier and Harbour and, with effect from that day, the Tralee and Fenit Pier and Harbour Commissioners are dissolved [they are gone down the drain].

(c) The making of an order under this subsection is in lieu of making an order under section 87(1) or 88(2) in respect of the harbour concerned.

(3) With effect from the transfer day concerned [there is nothing about consultation or due diligence], there is transferred—

(a) to the Port of Cork Company from Bantry Bay Harbour Commissioners, or

(b) to Shannon Foynes Port Company from Tralee and Fenit Pier and Harbour Commissioners,

all property (real and personal) and rights held or enjoyed immediately before that day by the relevant harbour commissioners and all liabilities incurred before that day by them that had not been discharged before that day and, accordingly, without any further conveyance, transfer or assignment—

They do not have to talk to me, the harbour board or authorities in Cork. This is like a last will and testament and it is what I am worried about in respect of my home town and area. In the testament of a will, it is stated that one gives all one's property, both real and personal, of every nature and description. The legislation reads like a final request.

The proposed subparagraph (3)(b)(i) reads:

(i) the property so held or enjoyed, both real and personal, vests on the transfer day in the Port of Cork Company [or Fenit, God bless it] or Shannon Foynes Port Company, as the case may be, for all the estate, term or interest for which, immediately before that day, it was vested in the relevant harbour commissioners, but subject to all trusts and equities affecting the property and capable of being performed.

Could it be any clearer? In spite of this, the Minister of State is demanding trust of me and the harbour board in Bantry, which was let down for 30 years by successive Governments. Historically, some Ministers from my party promised X, Y and Z but we did not get it. Given the trauma and problems associated with the financial markets, a Minister, in three or five years, might say, "To hell with it, we will sign this order." As the song says, "His breakfast milk is sour." It is a fait accompli bar the pushing of the pen.

I will read on because I am going off on a tangent. The proposed subparagraph (3)(b)(i) states:

(ii) the rights so held or enjoyed, are as on and from the transfer day, held and enjoyed by the Port of Cork Company [or Fenit] or Shannon Foynes Port Company, as the case may be, and

(iii) the liabilities so incurred are, as on and from the transfer day, the liabilities of the Port of Cork Company or Shannon Foynes Port Company, as the case may be.

We are fluid and in the black in Bantry and have been for many years. If it were the case that we accumulated substantial debts, having borrowed €10 million, for example——