asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will encourage an increase in the number of porters available at Cobh landing stage for handling passengers' luggage arriving from tenders meeting transatlantic liners when the number of passengers exceeds 200 by approaching the shipping companies or, if necessary, by making grants in aid for the employment of unemployed in Cork City or Cobh in order to eliminate a source of intense dissatisfaction among Irish and American tourists.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Cobh Porters.
I am advised that the delays which give rise to dissatisfaction among tourists at Cobh are not due to an insufficiency of porters, but to the cramped and unsatisfactory accommodation for customs examination. The Government have decided that a comprehensive scheme of reconstruction should be carried out at Cobh to provide a spacious customs examination hall with proper waiting-room facilities. It is hoped that the provision of this accommodation will remove any cause for complaint by tourists. In the meantime I am prepared to ask the shipping companies to make sure that an adequate number of porters is provided to meet the traffic needs. It is the function of the shipping companies to provide this service and I am not prepared to entertain the proposal in the last part of the Deputy's question.