Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to proposals to develop a new deepwater port at Bremore, north of Balbriggan; his views on whether such a new port is necessary to divert traffic out of Dublin Port; the economic and transport benefits that would arise from such a development; the timescale for the construction of any such new port; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19921/05]

Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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In January of this year, I launched the Government's ports policy statement. The policy statement aims to better equip the port sector and its stakeholders to meet national and regional capacity and service needs. One of the key challenges that lies ahead is the provision of adequate in-time port capacity, particularly for unitised trade. The policy statement sets out a framework to ensure that capacity needs are identified, planned and progressed in a co-ordinated manner.

As an initial step, the Department has sought information from the commercial ports which handle unit load cargo on key projects identified by them as essential to deal with anticipated capacity deficiencies to 2014 and beyond and whether the ports see these as being funded from their own resources or in partnership with the private sector. In its response to this request, Drogheda Port Company has provided information to the Department concerning its proposal for the development of a new deepwater port at Bremore. The timeframe for the proposed development and the preparation of a detailed business plan are matters for Drogheda Port Company in the first instance.

As indicated in the policy statement, it is intended to prioritise a range of projects catering for unitised traffic at our commercial ports from an overall economic national and regional perspective, as opposed to the perceived requirements of individual ports. To that end, the Department will be procuring expert and independent assistance from consultants to refine the criteria to be used for project evaluation, to draw up a uniform template for submission of detailed project proposals and to subsequently evaluate and rank the projects submitted as a basis for the Department's recommendation to Government. The terms of reference for the proposed consultancy are being prepared by the Department at present.