Thank you, a Chathaoirligh. Good morning, everyone. My name is Eithne Scott-Lennon. I live in Blackrock, County Dublin, along with my husband James and four sons. I am the owner and managing director of Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel in Killiney. It is a four star hotel that employs 120 staff.
The hotel and tourism industry has been a constant in my career and, indeed, throughout my life. I have travelled extensively, promoting Ireland as a destination. I have gained great insights over the years into tourism and hospitality worldwide, seen the best in class and understand that we must always strive for new and innovative ways to develop our industry.
I attended primary school in the Loreto convent in Wexford, where my father then worked for the Stafford family in the Talbot Hotel. My family moved back to Dublin in the late 1960s when my father took up the position of group general manager for P.V. Doyle and his growing Doyle Hotel Group. After that move I attended the Holy Child school in Killiney. In 1970 my father purchased Killiney Castle and it has been the flagship of our hotel business for the past 43 years.
On leaving school, I trained in the hotel industry in Switzerland and the United States. After returning to Ireland, I set up a sales and marketing division of the family business, Fitzpatrick Hotels, which by then had acquired its second hotel in Shannon. The group eventually developed into a substantial family run business with hotels in Dublin, Cork, Shannon, New York and Chicago.
I passionately believe in the power of dedicated and motivated staff because they are the ones who make a difference. Our ethos is a personalised professional organisation with its staff and customers always to the fore. The focus of our hotel business is excelling in customer care and service.
I took over Killiney Castle when my late father, Paddy, passed away in 2002. I have since invested heavily in the business. Unfortunately, I have had to make some harsh decisions over the past trying four to five years, but we have survived, albeit with turnover reductions and a rationalisation of overheads.
I was appointed to the board of the national tourism development authority in May 2003 and served two terms. I have chaired numerous committees, including the audit committee and the exciting Ryder Cup Committee during 2007.
I was first appointed to the interim board of the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company in 1994. I was subsequently reappointed by various Administrations for a number of terms on that board. I am honoured to have been invited to take up the role of chairperson of the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company.
For members who are unfamiliar with Dún Laoghaire Harbour, I will highlight a few facts and figures before outlining my vision for the future. The harbour has a unique and beautiful location as a leisure harbour close to Dublin city. The Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company is the statutory commercial body charged with maintaining and developing the harbour as a marine tourism gateway to Ireland. The harbour was built as a port of refuge between 1817 and 1842, and is widely recognised as one of the finest man-made harbours in the world. It was formed by the two breakwaters that we commonly know as the east and west piers, each of which measure approximately one mile. The company controls an area of 297 acres, of which 47 is land.
In recent years the company has undergone a major transition involving, in particular, the implementation of a restructuring plan. The company employs 19 people, down from 42 in 2009. It has a three person management team, which has halved in recent years.
The company operates modern passenger ferry facilities and the largest marina in the country for recreational vessels. It offers a great infrastructure for those with an interest in sailing, with four yacht clubs, sailing clubs and other marine-related activities. It has become successful in attracting and hosting exciting major events to our shore, such as the last year's world junior sailing championships. The company’s main source of revenue was traditionally from ferry operations. However, due to a number of factors, particularly the high cost of the fuel on which these vessels operate, this source of revenue has significantly contracted.
Our challenge is to ensure that the impact from the economic downturn and the changed profile of the traditional ferry business will be offset through generating sufficient revenue from a broader range of commercial operations in the harbour. That is why the company produced a comprehensive masterplan in 2011. It sets out plans for the long-term development of the company, and aims to develop the harbour as a marine, leisure and tourism destination of world-class calibre.
Dún Laoghaire Harbour wishes to enhance its attractiveness as a major destination for tourists to Ireland. The masterplan seeks to extend the recreational and amenity value of the harbour, to promote investment, and to generate sufficient revenue from commercial operations to ensure the sustainability of the maintenance programme and the marine facility that the harbour provides. In short, the objective is to transform the harbour into a living, vibrant area offering facilities for people to live, work and relax in. The masterplan, which envisages development over 15 to 20 years, will be reviewed every five years.
I will bring members up to date on the progress that has been made on some of the plan’s key elements. A key objective is to develop the harbour as a cruise ship facility, and this summer has seen a breakthrough for the Dún Laoghaire cruise stakeholder group. We had 14 visits in total, including the high-profile Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth. More than 30,000 passengers and crew visited our shores through Dún Laoghaire. The stakeholder group, which we established to promote the cruise business, has engaged with An Bord Pleanála, under the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006, with a view to building a new facility for the next generation large cruise ships. There are no facilities for such ships in Dublin, and this lost opportunity needs to be addressed urgently.
With our unique setting and recent categorisation as a leisure port in the Government’s port policy, I strongly believe that Dún Laoghaire Harbour offers the most suitable home for a cruise facility. This would complement Dublin Port's core industrial focus and concentrate on roll-on, roll-off and load-on, load-off ferries. I envisage a relationship similar to how Cobh takes all the visiting cruise ships to Cork city and allows it to focus on industrial traffic.
The number of cruise passengers visiting Ireland could quadruple over the next ten years, but only if we invest in the right facility in the right location. The Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company would welcome the opportunity to engage further with members of the committee on this matter over the coming months.
Another key element key of the masterplan is the development of an urban beach facility that will be located next to Berth 1 on the east pier of the harbour. It will comprise a floating swimming pool containing fresh seawater and be permanently heated to 26° Celsius using renewable energy sources. The floating structure will be a recycled barge or similar, which will house both the swimming pool and an urban beach approximately 240 m².
As members may have seen in the media, public pre-planning consultation on the project has commenced and we have undertaken a number of meetings with key stakeholders. We hope to go to planning later in the year.
Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company is conscious of its responsibilities as guardian of the history and heritage represented by the harbour. Dún Laoghaire retained a special place in the hearts of the hundreds of thousands of Irish people who emigrated through the harbour from the middle of the 19th century up to the final sailing of the mail boat in 1976. For this reason, it is particularly appropriate that one of the key proposals contained in the master plan is the construction of a diaspora centre on Carlisle Pier, which marked the final point of embarkation for many of those who left us behind. Significant work has been done to advance this project, which would provide a unique visitor attraction. Not only would it honour the diaspora, but it could also provide a significant economic boost for Dublin, Dún Laoghaire and the country generally. To be known as the Irish International Diaspora Centre, it would be an important outreach and networking resource for Irish communities to discover their heritage and connect with their global diaspora, as well as being a major tourist and visitor attraction. It would also act as a place for Ireland's new communities to connect and collaborate in maximising the value of the diaspora and diaspora engagement. A diaspora centre trust has been established to oversee the project in addition to a leadership council comprising prominent members of our diaspora.
As members may be aware, the Government's infrastructure and capital investment framework, published in November 2011, includes a commitment of support for a diaspora centre or museum. In light of this, Fáilte Ireland was asked to carry out a scoping study on the development of such a centre and the most suitable means by which it could be financed, developed and managed. I understand that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has received the outcome of this study and is considering the appropriate next steps.
Dún Laoghaire, as a town, has faced some difficult times recently. The harbour has a significant role to play in the future economic regeneration of the town and the wider economy. The implementation of the master plan will provide significant employment opportunities. The proposed mix of uses will provide direct and indirect employment for 1,400 employees thereafter. I have a great love for Dún Laoghaire and its people. I have a particular appreciation of the harbour, of what it represents and the potential it offers. I am constantly reminded by my customers and visitors to Killiney of the incredible beauty and outstanding resource that we have in the harbour. It is a jewel with considerable potential. People are blown away by its natural beauty and its proximity to the city.
If I am confirmed in the position of chair of the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company, I assure committee members that I will devote my energies to helping the company in effectively discharging its mandate. I will ensure it is run in an efficient and effective way and that it meets the needs of all those who use it. I look forward to working with the committee in my term as chair and thank members for their engagement today.
