The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Fahey, has signalled a "radical" shakeup of port structures within the next year.
Mr Fahey wants to introduce measures to reduce congestion at Dublin port and to strengthen regional ports. He has initiated a number of studies aimed at identifying the measures needed to revitalise regional ports. Full or part privatisation of the provision of port services is among the measures under consideration. Addressing the Irish Institute of Master Mariners in Galway at the weekend, the Minister said also the Government was committed to introducing incentives in the next Budget for the shipping sector, following a Cabinet discussion on the issue.
The Minister has made several references over the past two months to a thorough review of the port network. Last week he said he intended to divert sea traffic from Dublin while the port tunnel was under construction. Speaking on RTE Radio's Seascapes, he said he was considering incentives for regional ports which would help to draw shipping away from the capital during the five-year construction period of the tunnel.
Last month, also in Galway, the Minister said he had commissioned an assessment of the current port model and a possible move to full or partial privatisation of port services provision. He also said he intended to transform the regional ports in Dundalk, Co Louth, Wicklow and Bantry, Co Cork into corporate management structures. And he urged port companies to utilise property assets for commercial, residential and leisure use.
A separate study on port access and intermodal requirements was compiled by Arup Consulting Engineers and ORM Consulting, funded by the EU Operational Programme for Transport. It identifies a basket of projects which would help to relieve port access and bottlenecks and ranks the projects in order of priority.
Mr Fahey told the Irish Institute of Master Mariners that far too little of port container traffic is distributed by rail, at a time when the State's roads are "clogged up". It was "ridiculous" to think trains coming from Dublin to Waterford had to travel via Limerick at night, due to the lack of rail signalling staff.
The Minister paid tribute to the institute for its role in the establishment of an Irish Maritime Development Office within the Marine Institute. A director, Mr Glenn Murphy, was recently appointed and the aim of the office is to co-ordinate a strategic framework for the overall development of the shipping industry and ancillary services.
The project team heading construction of the new £30 million maritime college in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, is expected to go to tender by the middle of next year, the Minister said. Last week's Budget Estimates earmarked £11.5 million next year for seaport investment, as part of an overall Exchequer commitment of £46 million under the National Development Plan. The funding has been provided to target new port infrastructure and to remove existing and potential constraints and bottlenecks. It is also aimed at helping those regional ports and harbours which are "disengaging from commercial cargo/transport activity", according to the Minister.
The Irish Exporters' Association (IEA) is seeking special tax measures in the next Budget to revitalise the shipping industry. It has called on the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, to introduce fiscal treatment of ship-owning companies, whereby corporation tax would be applied on the basis of an EU tonnage tax regime; seafarers' tax allowance while at sea; and training measures which would support construction of the new maritime college for seafarers at Ringaskiddy, Co Cork.
