Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 April 2019
447. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the extra preparations he plans to make to facilitate persons and materials travelling through the port of Cork in the event of a no-deal Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9744/19]
View answer448. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the extra preparations he plans to make to facilitate persons and materials travelling through Cork Airport in the event of a no-deal Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9745/19]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 447 and 448 together.
The Government has been clear that its approach to preparing for Brexit is aimed at minimising the impact it could have on our trade and our economy while seeking an orderly withdrawal of the UK from the EU.
The establishment of the additional controls at ports and at Dublin airport that would be required in a no deal Brexit scenario is being co-ordinated by an interdepartmental group under the chairmanship of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, with representation from a range of stakeholders across Government. The group has focused on three locations for which we are heavily dependent on connectivity to the UK, namely, Dublin Port, Dublin Airport and Rosslare Europort. The Office of Public Works has been tasked with delivering the required facilities for these agriculture, health and customs checks at these locations. Cork Airport and the Port of Cork are not expected to require any additional infrastructure to deal with any potential changes resulting from the UK’s departure from the European Union.
The establishment of air transport connections are the result of commercial agreements between airlines and airports. I have continued to reiterate the importance of the aviation industry, including airports, taking steps to prepare for Brexit and where possible to reduce their exposure.
As the Deputy will be aware, the European Commission last year put forward a draft legislative proposal aimed at ensuring basic air connectivity in a no deal Brexit scenario. The measures proposed will, subject to reciprocity on the part of the UK, provide a large degree of certainty to the Irish aviation sector and to the travelling public. The situation was further clarified on 7 March 2019, when the UK confirmed its intention to reciprocate the proposed measures. While this cannot mitigate the overall impact of a no-deal scenario, or the assurances contained in the negotiated Withdrawal Agreement, the fears that aircraft might not be able to fly are being addressed.
Government also supports the development of air connectivity and the expansion of air services more generally through funding from Tourism Ireland for cooperative marketing activity. Cooperative campaigns with partners facilitate increased marketing effort and help promote the destination more widely. An increased budget allocation in Tourism Ireland for 2019 will continue to support both seasonal and regional growth and will be underscored by a commitment to focus co-operative partnership activities on the January-April and October-December periods for Great Britain and the North American and European markets. I encourage all airports to avail of this funding to optimise air services.
Cork Port is currently undertaking major capital infrastructure programmes and these programmes will enhance national and international connectivity, and provide for future increases in trade and national port capacity requirements by facilitating more vessels, larger sized vessels and increased tonnage and throughput.
My Department has also sought to assess the existing maritime capacity for direct sailings between Ireland and continental EU ports as a potential alternative route for trade currently using the Landbridge. My Department has established that there is capacity in ports other than Dublin and Rosslare that could be of some assistance in the event of a no deal Brexit. The main spare capacity available in 2019 is in relation to Lift-on/ Lift -off (LO-LO), in Cork, among others, and for bulk, rather than in respect of Roll-on / Roll-off traffic. However, shipping services are market driven and I believe that ferry operators will respond to economic developments and increase or decrease in capacity in response to market developments. There have already been responses from the shipping companies adding additional freight capacity on direct sailings to the continent, for example, Brittany Ferries has established a direct route from Cork to Santander in Spain, creating capacity for 35,000 additional freight units annually.
Should there be modal shift from RORO to LOLO the Port of Cork has spare capacity to cater for additional LOLO.
In addition, strengthening access routes to Ireland’s ports through investment to upgrade and enhance the road transport network is, and remains, a Government priority. Examples of such investments include the planned N28 Cork to Ringaskiddy Road to improve access to the Port of Cork.
