Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

I appreciate the value and importance of ferry services across Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly. I have a clear memory of crossing Lough Swilly on 14 September 2007 to mark the 400th anniversary of the flight of the earls.

The Department of Transport has no function in the future of the Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly ferry services. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has indicated that it has no function too but that Donegal County Council does provide funding for ferry services on Lough Swilly. The Department has informed me that some funding for the Lough Foyle ferry service was provided by the UK authorities with the balance from Donegal County Council in the past. The responsibility for maritime security in the port facility of Magilligan rests with the British Department for Transport. Officials from the Department of Transport have been in contact with their counterparts in the United Kingdom to consider a proposal that the ferry service as a whole should be considered as a domestic, rather than an international service.

In 1949, at the time of the declaration of the Republic, legislation was passed in the Oireachtas and the British Houses of Parliament which specifically stated that both states did not regard each other as foreign countries. The use of the term "international" seems to be the equivalent of "foreign". It is accepted in the Good Friday Agreement that the Irish nation relates to the whole island of Ireland, although not everybody would wish to describe themselves as Irish. The Department of Transport continues to monitor the situation closely and to seek a satisfactory resolution to the maritime security related difficulties which have arisen in connection with this service.

Senator Keaveney referred to several security related issues. One that can be addressed is continued dissident republican activity which is entirely without purpose or justification. Nationalist public opinion should bring its influence to bear in helping to bring this activity to an end. The Irish News has been doing so heavily since the beginning of this year.