Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Senator's concerns for his community and I understand his interests. I emphasise that we are talking mostly about Irish Ferries, which is a commercial company. It operates passenger services between Ireland, Britain and France under the flag of Cyprus or the Bahamas. Any decision taken by the company to change how it operates is a commercial decision by that company. Irish Ferries announced that it is unlikely to have a ferry service from Rosslare to France in 2019. However, the new Irish Ferries vessel serving Ireland and France, the WB Yeats, will substantially increase freight capacity above current levels. It will also increase its summer tourism capacity by 20%. A second and larger ship, costing €165 million and slated for delivery in 2020, further increases the company's freight capacity. Currently, Stena Line operates three weekly journeys to Cherbourg from Rosslare and is an important transport service for the south-east region. From a tourism perspective, while it mainly facilitates Irish tourists holidaying in France it also brings French and other European tourists to the south-east region.

Rosslare Europort is targeting growth and new business opportunities and recently received the approval of the Iarnród Éireann board for a strategic plan to grow the port’s business, including investment plans for up to €25 million in customer facilities, port infrastructure, port assets and new technology. The port is engaging with a number of potential new shipping customers to supplement existing operators and offer greater choice to freight and passenger business. Iarnród Éireann and Rosslare Europort briefed my Department late last year on the company's plans for strategic development of the port over the coming years. There is also ongoing engagement between the Department and the port on the implications of Brexit and the port's future development potential as a vital part of our country’s trading infrastructure.

The Irish Maritime Development Office, IMDO, is the shipping sector’s statutory dedicated development and promotional agency. It has a number of initiatives to support the development of the Irish shipping industry generally. The IMDO pursues its promotional activities, supported by the Department as appropriate, through direct marketing, including contact through the embassy network and through holding information seminars for the industry. In addition, a range of beneficial fiscal reliefs are in place for the shipping sector with EU state aid approval. These include tonnage tax, a refund to employers of social insurance contributions relating to seagoing employees and a unique income tax allowance for seafarers at sea for more than 161 days.

The Government also has a number of initiatives in the area of maritime education, providing grants through the IMDO for the training of seafarers. Through the IMDO, my Department regularly meets with shipping companies and continues to encourage and support owners in establishing new shipping services here. The Irish market for shipping services is highly competitive and provides a diverse range of maritime links into and out of the State and to the UK and continental Europe. These links are frequent and competitive and are vital to facilitate trade and tourism. More than 20 shipping operators provide scheduled shipping services from Ireland. This includes companies providing year-round scheduled passenger services between Ireland and the UK and France.

The shipping industry has shown itself to be responsive to market demand. Ireland has low barriers to entry in its shipping and ports sectors, making it relatively easy for new routes to be opened where they are viable and for additional capacity to be added on existing routes. In 2017, Brittany Ferries commenced a new service between Cork, Roscoff in France and Santander in Spain, with return sailing twice weekly. In 2018, additional capacity was introduced by Irish Ferries, CldN, Cobelfret and Brittany Ferries. All shipping companies servicing routes to and from Ireland operate as independent commercial companies. The services are market-driven and in the past ferry operators have responded to economic developments and increased or decreased capacity in response to these developments. Any new initiatives to enhance shipping services must continue to be market-driven.