Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 829: To ask the Minister for Transport the nature of land leases in Dublin Port; if these leases hamper the effective use of port lands; if Dublin Port has made proposals to his Department in relation to these leases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40369/05]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Land leases at Dublin Port are an operational matter for the port company concerned. Dublin Port Company has expressed a view to the Department that the application of the provisions of the Landlord and Tenants Acts to the port companies operating under the Harbours Acts 1996 and 2000 is not appropriate to the management of the port estates. The Maritime Safety Act 2005 added the port companies referred to above, to the list of State bodies to which the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act 1978 does not apply. This Act provides inter alia for a general right to acquire the fee simple.

The Ports Policy Statement published in January 2005 states that the Department acknowledges the view of port companies that the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Acts impose restrictions on their ability to effectively facilitate the development within their ports of an efficient and competitive market for port services, including new entrants. The Ports Policy Statement indicates that, as recommended by the High Level Review of the State Commercial Ports published in May 2003, the Department intends to give consideration, in the context of future legislative changes, to the possible adaptation of the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Acts to the particular circumstances of the ports.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 830: To ask the Minister for Transport the progress which has been made during 2005 in developing a plan for the development of port capacity on the east coast; and the targets being set for 2006 and datelines for delivery. [40370/05]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 867: To ask the Minister for Transport his priorities in 2006 for the development of Irish port capacity; his plans for Dublin Port and the redevelopment of Drogheda Port at Bremore in Fingal. [1481/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 830 and 867 together.

In January 2005, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources 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 in this process, the Department consulted with the commercial ports handling unitised trade, to determine their view of port capacity and how they intended to deal with the projected capacity requirement. The following ports on the east coast responded in this regard with information on their project proposals: Drogheda, Greenore, Dublin and Rosslare. Drogheda Port provided information on its proposal to develop a new port at Bremore.

In addition, in September 2005, the Department appointed Fisher Associates to inter alia advise on evaluating the projects submitted by the commercial ports. The purpose of this process is to satisfy the Minister for Transport and the Government in due course that the anticipated capacity requirement to 2014 and beyond can be efficiently and adequately met.