asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if, having regard to the facilities available at Dublin port for ship building and repairing, he will examine the possibility of attracting more of this type of work to the port.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dublin Ship Building.
71.
The Deputy will recall that in reply to a question by him on 13th March, 1968, he was informed that the reduction, in recent years, in the number of Irish-owned ships using the Port of Dublin had seriously reduced the volume of ship repair work available. Since then the main Dublin shipyard has been taken over by a Scottish firm and I am aware that the new owners have under consideration proposals for modernising and expanding the yard's ship building and ship repairing facilities and they will, of course, be facilitated in this matter in every way possible.
While I am not in a position to secure ship building and ship repair work for any particular yard, I am prepared to support, where possible, suitable proposals towards that end. There are, of course, already in operation inducements for attracting certain ship building work to Irish yards. These are low interest loans available to ship owners from the Shipping Finance Corporation towards the purchase of new ships and investment grants available to ship owners from the Department of Transport and Power.
Is the Minister aware that his colleague, the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, stated a few days ago here that there was a glut of boat building in Irish yards, with the result that some rather expensive boats required by his Department had to be bought abroad? Is he further aware that the answer he has just given proves that that statement by the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries is not quite correct? In addition, Kavanagh's of Arklow have got two boats recently and have got no further orders from the Department for a very long time, even though they could supply them.
I am aware of what the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries said. I do not agree that it contradicts in any way the answer I have given.
Time will tell. Is this some quibble about the difference between a boat and a ship? One does not go along with a tape and measure them.
Is the Deputy suggesting that the type of fishery boat to which the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries was referring could be built in the Dublin yard but is not being built there because the order was not placed there?
I am suggesting that the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries should not say that all Irish boatyards are glutted with orders when, in fact, that is not correct.
I thought the Deputy was implying that what the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries said was untrue because they are not being built in this yard in Dublin. He should know, if he knows anything about it, that these two things do not correspond at all.
The Minister is being a little naive but, if he goes to the trouble of checking, he will find there is a possibility of having this done, if the will is there.