Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

——would the Port of Cork Company state Bantry Port is in debt in the order of €10 million and Whiddy is closed and that it is inclined to enter a partnership or engage in a merger? I believe not. This is plain and stated in black and white. I do not believe there will be any avenue of opportunity or hope in this regard once the Bill is passed.

Proposed subsection 87A(4) states:

(4) All moneys, stocks, shares [they may not be performing well at present but we have money] and securities transferred to the relevant port company by this section that, immediately before the transfer day, are in the name of the relevant harbour commissioners, shall, at the request of the relevant port company, be transferred into that company's name.

In simple, plain language, this means the Port of Cork Company, on the day of the transfer, can sign the order and claim everything in Bantry.

To give the Minister of State a flavour of what is happening, let me outline what would occur if this happened tomorrow morning. We own the railway pier and bought it in good faith for approximately €200,000 plus the legal costs. We bought the foreshore rights from the Earl of Bantry in Bantry House estate. We did not go up to Mr. Shelswell-White in Bantry House stating he had to give us the foreshore rights. We negotiated and he agreed a price although we believed it was too dear. I will not repeat what one member of the board said; suffice it to say that he said Mr. Shelswell-White should be dealt with in some other way. It was in the region of €280,000 for approximately a mile of foreshore rights along the seafront in Bantry. This is important currently because another Department is carrying out extensive sewerage works along the foreshore and putting a treatment plant in place. That is another day's work. In addition to that asset, a developer who has built an hotel close to the harbour has agreed, subject to a process that is set out clearly by the Department, to buy a small section — approximately the length of the Chamber — for approximately €700,000. That adds up to approximately €1 million, and we are asked that all those assets would be handed over to the Port of Cork Company. There is nothing at all in the Bill to say that in lieu of that, the Cork authority would dredge the harbour, which would cost €10 million, extend the pier at a cost of €3 million, and ensure a fair and equitable system for mussel farmers and local fishermen.

When I walked down the pier last week I met a good friend of Senator McCarthy's, who is a union representative, who was going out to the island. I spoke to him about issues. I spoke also to fishermen and fish farmers. The pier was congested. One could not drive down it for health and safety reasons. Those people indicated that I am representing the area and they have had promises since 1968 that this and that would be done, but instead things have got worse. Now they are expected to take a major leap of faith and accept the proposed legislative change. It is as plain as the nose on my face that this is the last will and testament and the final nail in the coffin of Bantry. It will take a lot of persuasion for me to support the Bill. There is one way to do it. If section 18 is scrapped, then the Bill can go ahead.

There will be many legislative vehicles in future to address the issue. The Bill is only enabling legislation and it is not urgent, which the Minister of State accepts. We may not be here in the next three to five years. My good friend across the floor, Senator Coffey, could be in the other House. He could be in a ministerial car. Some Minister could come along and put the tin hat on it. There will be many opportunities to address the issue in terms of other Bills coming to the House. I accept it takes a lot of preparation and much work goes on behind the scenes to publish a Bill. We need to set our stall out fairly as regards what will happen to the assets in Bantry. While I have not spoken to them all, I am certain that the Cork Port members I know, which include some elected representatives, are bemused by the Bill. I will park that one for a moment as there are more sections I wish to address.