asked the Minister for Finance if he is aware that permission has been refused, by the Office of Public Works, for porters from Dún Laoghaire hotels to enter Carlisle Pier to meet boats; that this refusal causes inconvenience and expense to travellers, who are often obliged to employ three different porters before arriving at their destinations or awaiting conveyances; and if he will take steps to permit porters to enter upon the pier.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Entrance to Mail Boat Pier.
The Commissioners of Public Works have refused to allow porters from Dún Laoghaire hotels to enter on the mail boat pier at Dún Laoghaire Harbour in order to avoid congestion in the limited space on the pier. I am informed that the L. M. & S. Railway Company provide a sufficient number of porters to attend to passengers' luggage on the pier and, in the circumstances, it is not proposed to alter the decision of the commissioners.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary not aware that in previous years porters from all the local hotels in Dún Laoghaire were permitted on the pier and there never was any complaint as to congestion caused by them? Would he not restore the old practice?
My information is that in former times porters from two or three hotels only were admitted to the pier. There are now about 45 hotels and guest-houses in the district and if the porters from all these premises were to be allowed on the pier, there would be a possibility of their interfering with the traffic on the pier and impeding visitors.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary not aware that as a result of the present practice, a visitor has sometimes to employ two or three different porters before he can get to his hotel or to his waiting conveyance? It seems an anomaly to have that thing going on.