Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Acting Chairman for his advice. The principal reasons for my outspokenness on the amendments concerning Bantry Bay Harbour Commissioners and the Port of Cork Company was that I saw a change coming that was not properly planned or thought out. Government amendment No. 14 is critical as it deals with public consultation. I do not wish to be critical of the Minister of State or the Department but there is sometimes a lack of joined-up thinking and somewhere along the line we must ensure other Departments are included.

On a strict tunnel-vision view, what the Department of Transport is saying is probably right but in the case of Bantry, issues such as the dredging cannot be isolated. Currently only 20% of the pier in Bantry is accessible at low water and this is owing to silting. It was dredged in 1959 or 1960 and there is more than 2 m of silt. It is crazy to have a pier that in low water is inaccessible to small vessels. The Bantry Bay Harbour Commissioners have control of the entire bay and not just the Whiddy Island so consultation with Whiddy islanders — there are only about 20 left — inshore fishermen, mussel farmers who use the pier and those doing oyster and scallop farming and scallop dredging is required. I refer to the tourism industry, Garinish Island, the stone quarrying and export business and sailing. A very successful rowing club uses the inner harbour. The Atlantic Challenge is an international event which is being hosted in Bantry in 2012. It would be a big mistake not to enter into consultation with all those interests.

I am 95% satisfied there will be a consultation process put in place prior to any amalgamation with the Port of Cork Company or takeover by same. I am pleased this provision will be in the Bill and that it is written in stone as a result of Government amendments Nos. 12 to 14, inclusive, which are very specific. I presume "such other persons" would mean the elected Oireachtas Members from the constituency.

Amendment No. 14 states: "(c) an order under paragraph (a) or (b) shall not be made until after a public consultation process has taken place in respect of Bantry Bay Harbour or Tralee and Fenit Pier and Harbour, respectively, and all submission duly made in accordance with that process have been considered". Therefore, all the various groups I have mentioned will have to be consulted and I hope that process will be transparent and properly advertised. People sometimes forget that traditional inshore fishermen — only a few of whom are left — have rights to the inner harbour for the mending of nets and storage of their gear. These people should be respected and consulted. For any Bill to propose a certain huge change in the control of Bantry Bay and Bantry Harbour without these people being consulted would be a big mistake.

I thank my own colleagues, in particular those in my Seanad group who gave me a lot of support on the issue. I could say that I have scored some moral victory but I am not here for points scoring. I am grateful to the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, who has met me on a number of occasions and has listened to my concerns. The Government amendments have come substantially close to what I want. In case it is said I am rowing back entirely, as it currently stands, the Minister, if he so wishes, can, with the stroke of a pen and without any consultation, have Bantry Bay Harbour Commissioners taken over by Cork County Council. That option is in legislation already. This is another avenue of enabling legislation. For a while I thought it was disabling legislation but these new amendments have provided another option. In three or five years' time, Cork Port and Bantry, for whatever reasons, may have a meeting of minds and there may be consensus and consultation with the interested parties such as the sailors and inshore fishermen.

Dredging of the inner harbour might be the catalyst for the development of a marina and dredging is needed to make the only pier accessible at all tides. Senator O'Toole is a boat man and experienced sailor and he will know there is roughly 8 ft. of silt and gravel around the pier and that is a lot of water. Some of the ocean-going tugs are still used for the huge tankers coming into the single point mooring off Whiddy. Some of them have to come ashore. Some of those ocean-going tugs have a ten and 12 ft. draught of water. The Naval Service vessels come into Bantry quite often and it is a pity that at the head of the pier where there should be 12 ft. of water at low tide this is not possible now because of silting up.

I hope the dredging of the harbour will happen sooner rather than later and it could have the knock-on effect of allowing a marina. Bantry has been designated as a tourist town and hub. There should be joined-up thinking between Departments. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is concerned with the dredging of the harbour because it is an environmental issue and the silt is contaminated with mercury and TVT which must be dealt with appropriately. The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism has designated Bantry as a tourist hub and recently spent almost €1million on developing a beautiful walk from the railway pier, about three quarters of a mile long, linking up another road. One can walk along the seashore and a retaining wall has been constructed to prevent the cliff falling.

One Department is promoting tourism while another Department is considering giving Bantry Bay into the control of the Port of Cork Company. It will be a matter for negotiation between the two port companies but I am worried that Cork port may well take over Whiddy Island because of the link between Whiddy Island and Whitegate. Our only main client in Bantry is the ConocoPhillips oil company which contributes per tonnage to the finances of Bantry. Bantry Bay Harbour Authority now has approximately €1 million in the kitty and is in the black, as it has been, indeed, for the past 11 or 12 years. Its corporate governance is second to none. Admittedly, historically some mistakes were made, but there is an excellent chairman, a local small businessman as well as other local representatives and union people. It is a very well run harbour board and the co-operation between the board and Department officials is excellent. There are also excellent discussions and co-operation between Cork Port and Bantry on many other issues. There may be some merit in exploring all this for the future, without the necessity for those amendments.

The utopian situation I had dreamt of was that Bantry Bay Harbour Authority would be left in isolation. That probably would not achieve anything, in the event. We need the consent and support of the Department for grant aid and so on. The harbour board, with the help of the Department and the Government, has built a wonderful slipway on Whiddy Island, which should have been done 40 years ago. We can now have roll-on roll-off traffic regardless of whether it is a fire brigade, an eight-wheeler truck or an ambulance that has to get on the island. Currently there is a slipway three quarters completed at the abbey in Bantry, so many positive things have happened.

We debated this in the harbour board and looked at the option of Cork County Council taking us over. I must put on record that three of us out of 11 supported that. There was a unanimous vote against Cork Port taking over, but the majority on that occasion went for corporatisation, a stand-alone company. However, there is a downside to this, as I want to put on record. If that is done, unless there is a constant throughput of money coming in, any hope of grant aid from the Government is blocked. There are dangers in asserting the body is strong enough to have a corporate identity.

To conclude, as the proposer of the amendment, I can come in again, briefly. I do not intend to take up too much time today. I am glad the Minister, on behalf of the Government, has tabled these amendments. Without them I should be in an extremely difficult position today. I am satisfied the amendments are fair and balanced. If somebody had assured me last October that this could have been done, it would have saved my larynx a good deal of over-activity on a few occasions. That being said, we are where we are and I thank the Minister and his officials for their graciousness in coming around to what I believe to be a settlement. It may not be utopian, but I am 95% happy. I have spoken to many of the board members, including the chairman, and they are pleased with this outcome. We should move forward in a positive fashion. Again, I thank the many colleagues from all sides of the House who supported me on many occasions. Senator Buttimer called a quorum on one occasion which allowed me to draw my breath, which I appreciate as well. As a sidekick to all this action, Senator Ned O'Sullivan from the Acting Chairman's county will appreciate that it is wonderful that Fenit has the opportunity to avail of public consultation and I am glad about this. Fenit is smaller than Bantry, and I am glad it has the opportunity for public consultation and the assurance that there will have to be a meeting of minds as regards the Fenit and Foynes harbour authorities. Shotgun marriages between ports will not work and create enormous tensions both locally and politically.