Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response on the state of our shipping industry and how we are supporting the market. From my point of view it is about creating access, particularly from the southern half of Ireland. I mentioned Cork Port in 2012. I saw the results in 2012 when we lost that ferry. I saw what it did to our industries, whether it was haulage or tourism. There is an opportunity here now, particularly for Cork Port and the region of Cork, to develop another route going from Cork to France. It does not even need to run on a daily basis. It could perhaps run every second day. We need to examine that.

Brittany Ferries has been very good to Cork Port over the last few decades, in particular over the last 30 years. We need to engage with these entities to see if we can promote more services from Cork to France so we can have what we need, which is a viable trade route for our goods.We must engage with these entities to see if we can promote more services from Cork to France in order that we can have the viable trade route that we need for our goods.