Vol. 237 No. 6
asked the Minister for Transport and Power if he will ensure that no implementation of the British and Irish Steampacket Company's containerisation plans will be made until a fully co-ordinated survey and assessment of the future of Cork and other harbours is carried out.
11.
asked the Minister for Transport and Power if, in the rapid expansion of containerisation in recent years, any evaluation of the future role of Cork Harbour as a major south-western port has been made; and if he will make a full statement on what the future of the Cork port is.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 11 together.
The assessment of the role of Cork and other harbours in relation to container traffic is primarily a matter for the harbour authorities themselves and for the shipping companies who use them. The Cork Harbour Commissioners have conducted their own survey using a firm of consultants whose report indicated that prospects for the development of Cork as an Irish container port were slim and that Cork would therefore have to rely on the development of existing traffic and on the establishment of new industries in the area for increased trade through the port. Rapid turn round and maximum utilisation of ships and containers is the key to successful operation and, other things being equal, this factor tends to favour the shorter sea route and has already caused considerable diversion of cross-channel traffic from Cork to the container service operating out of Waterford and New Ross. In the present conditions of fierce competition in the cross channel trade, shipping companies and container operators must meet the standards of service and freight rates of their competitors or lose their traffic to them. The Board of the B & I have stated that it is for this reason they propose to withdraw the direct container service from Cork to Liverpool by sea and to substitute a through container service by liner train and ship via Dublin which would, they say, provide a more efficient and frequent service and permit a reduction in rates. As I have already indicated, the implementation of this proposal has been deferred until 1st April, 1969, to enable all the Cork interests concerned to make whatever representations and objections they see fit and to enable me and the Government to come to a final decision in the matter. The more general survey suggested by the Deputy would not serve a useful purpose in this matter and any prolonged deferment of this plan or of reasonable alternatives to it could only worsen the competitive position of the company.
Do we take it, therefore, from the Minister's reply that as far as the various harbours that he has mentioned are concerned — Cork, Limerick, Dublin, New Ross, Waterford, Rosslare — their development is dependent on the activities or the initiative of private enterprise or of the various harbour boards, and would it be correct also to assume from the reply that there is no overall plan for harbour development in his Department?
There is an overall harbour development in the sense that we have had to make very considerable grants to all the harbours and, therefore, have had to assess the general position as to the changes in the pattern of ships using harbours, the change in the pattern of traffic, the growth of container traffic. As the Deputy knows, all the major harbours have carried out surveys of their own which indicate predictions, as far as they can make them, of what the increase in traffic is likely to be. These surveys have enabled us to go as far as we can in judging what the future position of any harbour is likely to be. Equally, I should be absolutely frank and state that if, for example, we had undertaken in my Department an overall survey of all the harbours in Ireland say, in 1959, it would have by now been completely out of date because of the recent fantastic growth of container traffic and the change in the character of vessels, the change in the size of vessels. Then, again, we could have made predictions at various times on an overall basis, but the decisions of the British Government in regard to the whole future of British Railways and the establishment of liner traffic, the establishment of their new freight plan would again have caused a complete change in the pattern, as, for example, illustrated by their concentration at Holyhead of their main traffic and the closing down of Fishguard for certain purposes. In other words, the change has been so rapid that not only this administration but all administrations throughout Europe have found that long-term plans have had to be revised over and over again. So, I think in taking the general surveys prepared for us by the various harbour authorities, making whatever decision we can in regard to the rightness of grants or loans guaranteed to those harbours, we have done the best we can in the circumstances.
Yes; I do not think anybody would ask the Minister to take an undue risk with regard to port development, but there is fear and anxiety and concern, particularly for workers, in a lot of the harbours, big and small, and I think the Minister for Transport and Power would do well to engage in a survey, even though limited, so that those who work in these harbours would know that they were guaranteed employment at least for a certain period. As it is, in the case we have been discussing in the last few weeks, the case of the workers of Cork, they woke up one morning to discover that 150 of them were to be out of employment. I think the workers of Cork and of all the other ports that I have mentioned should have some assurance from the Minister for Transport and Power that he would consult, not alone with the harbour authorities but with British Railways, to see what in fact is the future of these ports, even if it is only for five or ten years.
Of course, I do not think one could possibly go for five or ten years. There may be other changes. As the Deputy knows, we are right now in the middle of a container revolution and I do think it is true to say that very few of the principal shipping companies in Dublin, for example, know enough about the container revolution to be able to talk to the unions realistically about it. The unfortunate change taking place in employment in harbours due to the container revolution is fairly well appreciated now and no shipping company would have any excuse for not making clear what the position is likely to be. There should not be any very great shocks experienced by workers in the course of the next two or three years because we can begin to see our way in regard to that particular change.
There should be an overall plan designed after the Minister has consulted with the various interests.
Is the Minister aware, or has he taken cognisance of the fact, that the private shipping companies who operated on the west coast of Ireland enjoyed a 15 per cent differential and because of the change to containerisation and export through the port of Dublin the harbours on the western coast are now affected with the result that there are 260 workers affected in the Limerick port and the closure of a private shipping company that was trading cross-channel from the western region is probable?
I am aware of the difficulties that are taking place everywhere.
What steps is the Minister taking——
None.
——to ensure that we will not have a repetition on the west coast of what has been happening in Cork? If we are faced with an overnight problem in Limerick of 250 dockers being left idle, what will the Minister do?
The question relates to Cork.
It does not relate to Cork entirely. I said "and other harbours" in the question.
As the Deputy knows, the Limerick Harbour Commissioners are making a study of what can be done in Limerick to secure more traffic. We foresaw the prospects of greater trade at Foynes and in order to make Foynes more suitable for larger ships we sanctioned a grant of £100,000. We have given a grant to Galway which will enable the harbour authorities there to accommodate the ore from Tynagh. Wherever we have seen the possibility of harbour development in the west we have provided grants. We have provided a grant for a dredger plant for Sligo. There has been a succession of grants for all harbours where we have seen signs that the giving of a grant would enable the harbour authority to get more traffic. At the same time, the Deputy will appreciate that if the costs of our products, including transport, are to compete with those of other countries, it is impossible for us to escape from the realities of the container position. If goods are leaving Limerick and going to Waterford by lorry it is because the manufacturers there find that in order to maintain employment they must take the cheapest, the fastest and the most regular service available. It would be impossible for us to dictate the form of transport in the face of this inevitable competition and in face of the fact that British Railways themselves undertake this operation. It has become universal.
Is the Minister aware——
Question No. 12.
Not being satisfied with the Minister's reply, I should like to give notice that I intend to raise this matter on the Adjournment. It is my Limerick.
The Chair will communicate with the Deputy.
