Vol. 518 No. 6
151 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the extent to which the sea transport capacity between this country and mainland Europe and the UK has increased in the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13155/00]
A number of competing private sector shipping companies, using Irish and non Irish registered ships, provide shipping services to serve Irish importers and exporters. These companies have been innovative in their provision of jumbo ferries, fast ferries and dedicated container ships to serve the growing Irish economy and to avoid any gaps in service.
Irish Ferries recent commissioning of a shipyard to build the world's largest cruise ferry, for service on the Irish sea, is one indication of the dynamism of the Irish shipping sector.
The Deputy will also be aware that policy on ports is to provide sufficient capacity to meet the growth in demand for shipping services and to allow for competition between shippers, to the benefit of importers and exporters, in that context.
The Central Statistics Office port throughput figures, detailed below, will provide the Deputy with an indication of the changing requirements of our importers and exporters for shipping services in the bulk and break bulk traffic modes.
|
Imports |
Exports |
Total |
|
|
94 |
21,605,000 |
9,325,000 |
30,930,000 |
|
95 |
23,197,000 |
9,183,000 |
32,380,000 |
|
96 |
24,351,000 |
9,568,000 |
33,918,000 |
|
97 |
25,593,000 |
10,737,000 |
36,330,000 |
|
98* |
28,694,000 |
11,260,000 |
39,954,000 |
