Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This morning I put down a Commencement matter for the attention of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. In light of Irish Ferries' plan to reduce its services through Rosslare Europort I ask the Minister to clarify the national strategy to promote the viability of trade routes between southern Ireland and the Continent.

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. It is an important debate that we will have this morning about the viability of these routes, particularly from the southern half of Ireland to the Continent. One might ask why a Senator from Cork would raise the issue of Rosslare. The news that the route to France, particularly for commercial trade, is to be curtailed is very serious. Let us consider the town of Castletownbere in the southern half of Ireland. Some 2,500 articulated trucks leave it every year. They will now have to go to Dublin. We do not need extra traffic going through Dublin. Their route always went through Rosslare and out to the Continent. They basically carried fish, particularly whitefish. As it is the largest whitefish port in Ireland, access to trade routes is a very important issue. That is a really core issue for us, particularly in light of Brexit. For any route to be curtailed is a big issue, but for this route to be curtailed is a major issue for us on the southern side of the island.

We really need to examine how we can have a viable trade route to the Continent that does not involve taking all our goods up the M50 and through Dublin. When I was Mayor of County Cork in 2012 we lost the Cork-Swansea ferry. That was a real loss to us as a community. It took us until the establishment of the Wild Atlantic Way to see recovery. The ferry service was a really important tourism link between us and Wales and was a major loss to our community.

We need to plan ways to support and develop these trade routes and to get access. Access to markets is so important. These access routes are literal lifelines for us. We have a major fishing trade, a major agricultural trade, pharmaceutical businesses and many other industries in the south. All our produce is now going through Dublin Port. From the Minister's point of view it does not make logical sense. We need to promote these ports. Not only do we need to promote ports like Rosslare; the Port of Cork in particular needs to be promoted. We need to ensure viable trade routes out of the Port of Cork going to the Continent. We have trade links at the moment through Brittany Ferries. That firm is very valuable, particularly on the weekends when it serves as a tourism route. There is also a route to Spain. However, we need to promote more if we can. The more access to markets we have the better we will do as a society. Developing this is a major issue, particularly for the southern side of the island.