Vol. 447 No. 1
217 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Marine the cost to the State of freight charges paid to ship owners of other countries for carrying Ireland's seaborne trade; the estimated proportion of Ireland's seaborne trade which is carried on foreign owned vessels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3357/94]
The information on freight charges sought by the Deputy is not readily disaggregated from officially published statistics on Irish seaborne trade. Evaluations being carried out in the context of the current review of shipping policy are addressing these and other statistical needs. I will arrange for the information to be made available to the Deputy when it comes to hand.
Unofficial estimates available to the Department suggest that some 20 per cent of Irish trade is currently carried in Irish ships. The current review is, inter alia, addressing the extent to which Irish ships operating competitively in the short sea routes to mainland Europe could pick up an increasing proportion of that business, with consequent economic and employment benefits.
