Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I welcome the opportunity to address the dissolution of Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company, DLHC, and the transfer of its functions to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. I can confirm to the House that I have signed the transfer order with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.The harbour company was dissolved earlier and all assets, liabilities and staff transferred to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. The port, once central to the traffic of freight and passengers between Ireland and the UK, has had no commercial shipping since the withdrawal of the Stena Line in 2015. Declining car and passenger numbers, combined with increasing fuel and operating costs, made the Stena route unsustainable.

However, I am optimistic about the future of DLHC. As outlined in the national ports policy, published in 2013, the future of the harbour lies in marine leisure, maritime tourism, cultural amenity and urban redevelopment. As a local amenity, it is best placed under the local authority, which is better positioned to achieve the maximum from the harbour. I am delighted that it has committed to ensure, on transfer, "that the harbour will continue to be recognised as a location of choice for marine and leisure activities as well as a destination of choice for visitors."

For a number of years, DLHC has faced a challenging operating environment as it transitioned from commercial shipping activities towards a different operating model focused on marine leisure and marine-related tourism. The company has been restructuring its business to keep it on a sustainable financial footing in preparation for transfer. Its income is now derived from rents, moorings and property.

As Senators will be aware, the transfer of DLHC to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is agreed Government policy. The national ports policy recommended that five designated ports of regional significance, Drogheda, Dún Laoghaire, Galway, New Ross and Wicklow, transfer to more appropriate local authority-led governance structures. These ports retain important roles as facilitators of their regional economies and, in some instances, as centres of marine-related amenity and tourism activities. However, the scale and nature of their port activities are not of a scale that warrant continued central government involvement. The longer-term development of these ports is best placed within their regional and local communities to allow them to develop in a mutually beneficial manner.

The Harbours Act was signed into law on 25 December 2015. It provides the necessary primary legislative framework to allow the transfers to take place. Two ports have been transferred. Wicklow Port transferred on 30 August 2016 to Wicklow County Council and Drogheda Port transferred on 2 October 2017 to Louth County Council. The transfer process is complex and takes a number of years to complete.

The chief executive of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council undertook due diligence in preparation for transfer and presented her report to the council on 9 January 2017. As the report raised a number of further issues for clarification, the chief executive engaged a financial consultant to carry out a risk assessment to enable the council to fully understand the implications of the two different models of transfer and the responsibility that will transfer in financial and other terms. 

The two models outlined in legislation are: (1) transfer of shareholding keeping the limited company structure intact, or (2) dissolution of the company and transfer directly under the local authority. It may help if I explain how remedial works are usually funded in the ports sector. National ports policy clearly states that the Exchequer does not provide funding for a port company. Ports must operate on a commercial basis without recourse to State funding. Ports fund their activities and capital infrastructure investment from their own resources. This can be done in a number of ways, such as using reserves or profits, selling assets, borrowing or by attracting private investment into ports.

In respect of funding remedial works, it is normal procedure in port companies to prioritise engineering and remedial works and to phase those works and the funding to undertake those works over a period of time, immediate, medium and long-term. The port has a substantial asset as well as seven digit cash reserves, both of which transferred to the council and will allow for any urgent and immediate infrastructural works to be carried out. However, how the council decides to use these assets is up to it. The port will be a welcome boost following the granting of the planning application for the harbour innovation campus. In addition, DLHC has significant fixed assets. The dissolution of the port may present different opportunities to the council for funding that was not available to the port as an independent commercial port company, such as funding under the urban renewal scheme. I look forward to hearing the views of Members.