Seán Kyne Presses for Galway Port Funding and Status

Minister, I wish to raise the future of Galway Port with you this morning. I believe you have an important role to play, both as Minister for Public Expenditure, but also in your previous role as Minister for State in the Department of Transport, who had responsibility for ports and who has visited and engaged with Galway Port CEOs, a harbour master, and indeed the Port Company over the years. Under the National Ports Policy 2013, Galway Harbour Company transferred to Galway City Council ownership. The transfer changed the shareholder but did not resolve Galway Port's long-term place in the national port system. Galway Port Minister has received planning permission this year for their ambitious but realistic extension and relocation plans, which will include a rail link, and will cater for larger cargo ships, include a naval berth, allow for easier and safer access for cruise ships, free up land for housing in the inner harbour, provide additional leisure and recreational land, have a positive impact on City Council's rate space, and will protect the city from flooding surges. All these, Minister, I'm sure you'll agree, are positive. However, the Draft Ports Policy, which ended its public consultation at the end of August, continues to include Galway Port as a port of regional significance only. Why is Galway the exception? Amongst Ireland's port cities, Dublin, Cork and Watford are included as national ports and indeed as is Limerick via Fines. What is the funding route for Galway Harbour Company's extension shortfall? It has its own resources, Minister. It can't say land and draw down a loan, but there will be a shortfall, as you're aware. Will the Ports Policy accept that Galway has huge international demand, for example, for cruise ships, with bookings extending into 2033? Galway City Council in their submission have stated that local authority-owned ports should have equal access to state, EU and blended funding for projects that satisfy transparent criteria and deliver national, regional or public value. Equal access, Minister, does not mean that every project should be funded, but it means that projects should be assessed on their own merits rather than be excluded because of ownership, in this case local authority, or port classification, in this case a regional port. Galway Port is, since the last Ports Policy, part of the EU TIN-T comprehensive network and this recognition should have practical consequences, Minister, in national investment planning, infrastructure development and access to appropriate funding. So Galway City Council's request is that the final Ports Policy should explicitly state the future role of Galway Port within the national commercial port and TIN-T networks. The policy should also confirm that all ports within its scope, including local authority-owned ports and TIN-T ports, that are not ports of national significance, may access exchequer, European and blended finance through transparent, project-based criteria. This must include an exchequer funding route for maritime safety, access and resilience infrastructure, where the wider public benefits cannot be funded from port revenues. Thank you Deputy Coyne for raising this important issue and I'm very familiar with Galway Port, having visited it many times in my role as Minister of State in the Department of Transport and I know the ambition in the port to grow and your wider work in Galway West over the last number of years to give fruition to that. As you know, the draft revision of the National Ports Policy for which the second public consultation period ended on 28 August confirms the importance of Galway Harbour Company and other ports of regional significance to their immediate hinterlands and crucially to supporting balanced regional development. It is supportive of all ports of national and regional significance in maximising their contribution to meeting the needs of the state and the wider programme for government commits to supporting investment in our commercial and passenger port infrastructure through that new National Ports Policy. We approved that as a government on 16 June and it encourages all ports with commercial activity not only to contribute to the facilitation of trade, but also to support renewable energy, energy security, climate adaptation and decarbonisation goals both within the regions and across the state as a whole. In this context, I welcome on Commissioner O'Connell's decision in April of this year to grant planning permission for the extension of the Port of Galway, marking a significant infrastructure milestone for Galway City and the wider west of Ireland. This project represents a really positive example of ambition and growth and the necessity for balanced regional development to your point. The Minister for Transport has advised me though that 91 written submissions were made during the recent consultation on the draft revision of the National Ports Policy, including from Galway Harbour Company, Galway City Council and Galway County Council. These are currently being assessed by the Department of Transport. It is Minister O'Brien's intention to submit a final draft of the policy to government before the end of the year. What we are trying to do with our new National Ports Policy is to ensure that our ports are that growth centre for renewable energy, for intensification of housing supply and also to ensure that we really build that regeneration which is possible. Obviously there will have to be choices around how we allocate capital to that, which is something for government to consider when the new National Ports Policy is developed, but it has much more ambition than the National Ports Policy from where it sits today, where I know it was significantly constraining, particularly for regional ports across our country and they weren't able to develop in line with maybe their wider ambition up to now. So I think the new Ports Policy will be a catalyst for much greater economic development for ports of regional significance. Obviously we'll have to make choices around what the funding for that will be, but I think between the continued work and getting planning permission for respect to development and the finalisation of the new National Ports Policy, I think it will represent a really important ability to follow through on that wider ambition for Galway. Deputy Coyne. Thank you Minister for your response and you talk about renewable energy. Galway Port presently handles about 20% of Ireland's onshore wind development components through its own port at the moment. Unfortunately Galway Port has been judged by existing tonnage capability rather than what it can achieve and will achieve in its new port extension. Now 2013 Minister was a different world, was a different era and you know many people and members of your own party quite rightly criticise that ports policy, quite rightly, but it's continuing now in the draft policy. That mistake is continuing on now in the draft policy. So my request is to yourself, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Transport and the Minister of State with responsibility for ports and the Department of Transport, ensure that the next and final policy delivers for Galway Port and Galway City. It has to deliver for Galway Port and Galway City. But what the ports policy is seeking to do in the first instance is to prioritise the commercial aspect of each port of national or regional significance and that's an important principle and I suppose discipline across how we manage all of our ports. But it also speaks to wider ambition which may not have been reflected and also the potential of ports around renewable energy and on energy security and other issues which may not have been assessed at the same extent at that time. That's why though we're having a you know the further consultation was ongoing, why we want to continue that it's a draft ports policy it still has to come back to government for final decision by the end of the year and we're clear that as per the problem for government and as per the commitment of developing a new national ports policy we do want to ensure that that momentum in infrastructure development and balanced regional development happens in the port of Galway and across the west of Ireland where there's huge potential for renewable energy and we want to fulfill that ambition through this ports policy. Thank you. you