Vol. 408 No. 6
11 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for the Marine if he has satisfied himself that the ports of Dublin, Rosslare and Waterford have adequate capacity; and if not, the development projects he envisages for these ports in the next five to ten years to meet the capacity requirements or projected traffic growth.
As was indicated by the Government in their National Development Plan, the ports referred to are regarded as key ports in the overall context of this country's external trade. To this end projects from each of the ports have been submitted for funding under the Operational Programme on Peripherality. These projects are designed to ensure that particular shortcomings in relation to capacity are overcome and that projected growth in traffic, whether Lo-Lo, Ro-Ro, bulk or passenger, can be accommodated.
In relation to the further development of these ports, I should mention that this function is, in the first instance, the responsibility of the relevant harbour authority. My Department, who have responsibility for the ports of Dublin and Waterford, and the Department of Tourism, Transport and Communications, who have responsibility for the port of Rosslare, will, of course, seek to facilitate these ports in the implementation of their development plans, given the important role these ports play in Ireland's seaport trade.
What is the projected increase in traffic through these ports between now and the turn of the century and what resources will be made available by the Minister's Department and that of his colleague to meet this need?
With regard to the latter part of the supplementary question the Operational Programme on Peripherality has built into it a scheme for the ports mentioned in the question.
Is the Minister satisfied with the weighting which the Operational Programme on Peripherality gives to the development of port facilities, given that the overwhelming proportion of funds under that programme is going to road construction within the country rather than to strengthening transport links between this country and Britain or this country and the rest of Europe? Is the Minister satisfied with the relatively small amount of money being allocated under that programme for the development of ports?
Any Minister who applies for Structural Funds would be very foolish to admit that he is satisfied with whatever he gets. It is a matter of negotiating all the time. We have succeeded in impressing on the Council and the Commission the importance of ports to our peripheral situation. The experts have assessed the disadvantage in costs at as high as 11 per cent that we are at, being on the periphery, compared with people in the centre of Europe. Consequently it was easier to make our argument and we have done so. I am confident that Europe will accept the argument and that up to the end of the century, past the first period, we will be substantially aided in this regard.
Both in the original question and in my supplementary question I asked about the projected traffic growth but the Minister did not reply to that.
It is very difficult to assess what the growth will be.
What is the relativity in terms of the three ports mentioned? Does the Minister envisage that there will be equal growth in each port or which one is he prioritising?
I am not doing any prioritisation. It is up to the port authorities to sell and develop their business. The Deputy already mentioned Larne. Matters other than costs must be taken into account when comparing a place like Dublin with Larne. There was considerable industrial trouble in Dublin which affected the operations of the port. Hopefully that has ended now and from that point of view there should be no disadvantage in Dublin as regards development. As the Deputy knows and as my colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications announced, £11 million is scheduled for expenditure at Rosslare Harbour to which the Deputy referred.
