David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, to the House. I wish to raise the matter of the draft fishery harbour centres rates and charges order 2012. The order will see charges for yachts and commercial vessels berthing in any of the State's main fishing harbours increase by up to 800%. I understand the harbour in Dunmore East, County Waterford, will have to apply such charges.

Due to the neglect of previous Governments, many fishing villages across the country have been devastated because of massive changes in the fisheries sector. Many ancillary services and businesses which depended on the fishing sector have also suffered. The harbour at Dunmore East is now so shallow due to the build-up of mud and silt that some of the larger fishing vessels can only enter and leave at high tide. The harbour's Syncrolift, a device for repairing vessels, has so much mud underneath that it can only cater for smaller boats. Some of the larger vessels are now repaired in other ports and even outside of the State. This has a knock-on effect for local businesses and employment in Dunmore East. The harbour badly needs to be dredged which is estimated will cost between €4.5 million to €6 million. When one considers the harbour turns over millions of euro every year and its benefit to the local community and the region, the cost for dredging is a small amount and would be well invested.

On top of these concerns, the Department has proposed to increase harbour charges. The view of many is that this will add to the woes of local businesses. Dunmore East attracts many tourists, visiting yachts, motorised pleasure craft, as well as having an adventure centre operating from the port. It also gets several luxury cruise liners which have a positive impact on the south-east region's shops, hotels, restaurants, visitor centres and other tourist attractions when one considers the thousands of tourists such a visit generates. The Government has put a major focus on tourism as one of the key drivers for economic recovery. There is a concern these charges could have an impact on these tourism activities. I am not the only one concerned about these charges. The chairperson of the Irish Marine Federation, Mr. David O'Brien, stated that for every euro spent on a berth in a harbour, €10 is spent by yacht owners in local shops and restaurants. The same would apply to luxury cruise liners. Any increase in harbour charges will also apply to commercial and fishing vessels.

Has a cost-benefit analysis of these increases been carried out? Does the Minister have any concerns that increasing charges could have a negative impact on local businesses? Will the Minister allay some of the concerns of local communities which will be affected by these increases in charges?