Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the former Senator Ross to his alma mater.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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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.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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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.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator may ask a very brief supplementary question.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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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.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Brexit could alter that as well.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I will bear in mind what the Senator said when I am talking to the ferry companies.