#ports – Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD will shortly publish a new Bill to provide for the transfer to local authority control of the five Ports of Regional Significance – Drogheda, Dún Laoghaire, Galway, New Ross and Wicklow. Details of the enactment of this Bill, an important milestone in National Ports Policy, were given during the Minister's Opening Address at the Dublin Bay History and Environment Conference this morning in Dublin.
The Bill will also make a number of improvements to the board appointment process generally such as introducing statutory skillsets and term limits which will improve the overall corporate governance of the sector.
All three of our Ports of National Significance (Tier 1) are hoping that 2015 marks the start of a prolonged period of infrastructure improvements and developments.
'As with the economy at large, we are already seeing and hopefully will continue to see our ports shift from recovery mode to growth mode. This means that we need to ensure that our ports are positioned to provide the type of port capacity we require and I'm confident that National Ports Policy provides the required policy framework to underpin the necessary investments in development' the Minister told the meeting.
The Minister confirmed he supported Dublin Port's most recent application this year for further EU funding towards towards studies required in relation to the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR) Project.
Mr Donohue said he qwas delighte the port's importance has also been acknowledged as a 'node and core' port within the TEN-T Regulation at European Union level and it is the largest of the three Irish ports on the North Sea Mediterranean Corridor.
The Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR) Project is the core element of Dublin Port Company's Masterplan, endorsed in National Ports Policy, which sets out how the Company will provide the capacity to achieve a throughput of some 60 million tonnes by 2040.
The redevelopment and reconfiguration of Alexandra Basin will allow the Port handle larger ships and to provide for a substantial increase in Port capacity through the provision of multipurpose berths, thus offering a flexible solution for customer needs.
