Thank you, Chairman. I am joined today by my colleagues, Ms Catherine O'Sullivan and Mr. Garret Doocey, from the maritime transport division of the Department. Collectively, we are responsible for national ports policy, among other things. We will also be participating in working group negotiations on this proposed regulation on port services and financial transparency.
Within ports policy generally here at home, we are currently working on the implementation of the new national ports policy which was launched by the Minister in March of this year. As the committee will be aware, one of the key proposals within the new policy was a categorisation of our commercial ports into three tiers: ports of national significance, tier 1, which are our largest ports at Dublin, Cork and Shannon-Foynes; ports of national significance, tier 2, Waterford and Rosslare; and ports of regional significance - Drogheda, Dún Laoghaire, Galway, New Ross and Wicklow.
As regards the ports of regional significance, the new policy recommends the transfer of control from central to local government. This transfer process will also require amendments to our current legislation, the Harbours Acts. We have just concluded a consultation period in terms of identifying the best model for these ports into the future. As part of this process we drafted and published a regulatory impact analysis type document which is available on our website and which I can forward to the committee if members so wish.
We are also finalising a review of Rosslare Europort, which was carried out by Indecon economic consultants. The review was tasked with examining the current commercial and operational efficiency and to advise as to whether the port is maximising its potential. This work is practically complete and we expect to bring the final report to the Minister shortly.
Turning to the proposed regulation on port services and financial transparency, the committee will be aware that it was only published at the end of May and so we are at a very early stage in the European legislative process. The regulation will be examined by a working group but the first meeting is only scheduled to take place tomorrow. To date, there have been no meetings of this working group.
Broadly speaking, the regulation covers two areas: opening up market access to port service providers and ensuring financial transparency with those ports that receive public funds. The services covered by the regulation are bunkering, dredging, mooring, port waste reception facilities, pilotage and towage.
The regulation will apply to those ports which fall into the new TEN-T core and comprehensive networks. The regulation does not apply to cargo-handling or passenger services within ports.
As a basic principle, the regulation requires port authorities to open up the provision of the covered services to any interested party. There is scope for restricting this through ensuring that these interested parties meet minimum requirements, or arising from space constraints within a port, or because of a public service obligation imposed upon ports.
In terms of financial transparency, the regulation seeks to ensure that any public funds made available to a port authority are reflected in a transparent manner in the port authority's accounts and clearly show how these public funds are used.