asked the Minister for Transport and Power if, in view of the high rate of unemployment in Wexford, he will reconsider the application by the Wexford Harbour Commissioners for a grant in order to determine the possibility of opening the port so that Wexford town could be made attractive to potential industrialists.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Wexford Harbour Grant.
26.
As the Deputy is aware, Wexford harbour has been closed to traffic since 1962 due to silting and the inability of the harbour commissioners to undertake dredging. Since then the commissioners have sought financial assistance from time to time to meet the cost of various schemes with the objective of reopening the harbour. None of the schemes in question was found to have sufficient technical merit to warrant the grant of State assistance.
In 1969 the harbour commissioners sought a grant of £3,000 to meet the cost of a survey and rudimentary model of the harbour. It was the view of my technical advisers that a survey and full-scale model, at an estimated cost of £40,000, would be an essential preliminary to any scheme for reopening the harbour and that the cost of a satisfactory scheme was likely to be in excess of £1 million.
The very low volume of traffic formerly handled at Wexford is now being handled at other ports including Rosslare and New Ross and there is no indication that the expenditure of substantial sums on the reopening of Wexford would attract any significant new business. In these circumstances, a review of the decision to refuse State assistance would not be warranted.
Would the Minister tell me then why he promised £3,000 to Wexford Harbour Board for this test about two years ago?
Is that right?
Did you not?
There was an election in the offing.
No, not really, but at that time it was "on" in the sense of overall harbour development but the situation has changed. We have made an overall assessment of the situation in the whole south-eastern area and we have allocated a substantial grant to Arklow in recent weeks and grants to New Ross and Rosslare. They are progressing and developing business and in that situation it is not justifiable to spend money even on an assessment of the situation where existing harbours now being developed and expanded are catering for the commercial situation.
The survey to which the Minister has referred had been completed when he promised a miserable £3,000 to satisfy the harbour commissioners as to whether or not the port would be capable of development.
I have been in touch with them since, as the Deputy is aware, and everybody is now agreed that it is not "on".
But the commissioners asked me to raise this in the Dáil.
The commissioners might get in touch with me and we might have a meeting about the matter because they are as fully aware of the realities of the situation as I am and as the Deputy is.
Why did they ask me to put down the question?
I just do not understand why.
Would the Minister discuss the matter with them?
I should be delighted to do so.
Could the Minister say which supremo in his Department decided that £40,000 could not be given to Wexford to see whether, in fact, it had a future?
Was it not £3,000?
No. According to the Minister's complicated statement £3,000 was the original estimate but when the experts in his Department looked into the matter they found that the survey there would cost £40,000. At that stage some supremo in the Department said: "Wexford must be closed down permanently. It is not worth £40,000." I should like to know at what level in his Department the decision was reached to close down Wexford as a town.
The Deputy is making a very enlarged sort of statement. I should be glad to take up Deputy Corish's constructive suggestion to meet the commissioners and we can talk about the basic facts——
Why would the Minister not have the guts to go down to Wexford and tell them why he does not believe in——
Indeed, I was in Wexford last Friday week and had the good company of Deputy Corish at Kilmore Quay.
I think with the change there will be a change.