#DublinPort - "Overdependence" on Dublin Port for trade traffic raises significant supply security issues in the context of Brexit, the Irish Academy of Engineering has argued.
As The Independent writes, Dublin Port's share of Ireland's roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) traffic has increased from just over 55pc in 1987 to almost 90pc in 2015, a report by the all-island body noted.
At the same time Dublin's share of Ireland's Load-on Load-Off (Lo-Lo) traffic increased from almost 55pc in 1987 to 72.5pc in 2015, the acadmey said. The report argued that the Government's policy regarding port development appears "wholly unsuited to the problems posed by Brexit".
"Up to 500,000 unitised freight movements each year could potentially be re-routed from Dublin to south coast ports by 2020 or soon thereafter," the report concludes
"Were this to happen it would reduce Dublin's share of unitised freight to over 50pc, the level obtaining in the 1980s and a level consistent with the Greater Dublin Area's share of the population."
The report said this would require a significant change in inland distribution and logistics chains, which it said are now concentrated in the Dublin area. But Dublin Port Company chief exective Eamonn O'Reilly questioned the analysis in the report.
To read more on this story, click here.