Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross T.D. has signed an Order transferring Wicklow Port Company to Wicklow County Council, with the consent of his colleagues Paschal Donohoe T. D., Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and Simon Coveney T.D. Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government.

Wicklow port is the first port to transfer under National Ports Policy which was approved by Government and published in 2013. The policy recommended that designated Ports of Regional Significance - Drogheda, Dún Laoghaire, Galway, New Ross and Wicklow - transfer to more appropriate local authority led governance structures.

These ports are important to their regional economy and the transfers support the Government’s reforms in the area of local government generally, through enhancing the role of the local authority in regional economic development. Ports of Regional Significance retain important regional roles as freight distribution hubs and also increasingly important roles in areas such as marine leisure and tourism. The Harbours Act 2015 provides the legislative basis for the transfers to proceed.

Speaking today the Minister welcomed the transfer and said:

"Today marks an important milestone as Wicklow Port is the first Port of Regional Significance to transfer to a local authority. Wicklow port is a thriving regional commercial port and the transfer will provide new opportunities for the development of marine-related activities and regional freight, and to further develop marine leisure and tourism, cultural and recreation amenities in the area, offering significant potential for local employment creation.

I wish to commend the work undertaken by the Chief Executive and his staff in Wicklow County Council as well as the work undertaken by the Board and staff of Wicklow port who have actively engaged in the due diligence process over a number of months in preparation for transfer.

As you are aware our commercial ports are vital to our future economic growth. They are the gateways for most of our merchandise trade, and for significant numbers of tourists and passengers. National ports policy encourages every port to develop its full potential to ensure that each port can contribute to growth in the overall sector. Ports of Regional significance serve a niche market and provide an important regional and local function.”

 

ENDS

 

Note for Editors

There are currently nine commercial port companies established and operating under the Harbours Act 1996: Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Dún Laoghaire, Galway, New Ross, Shannon Foynes, Waterford and Wicklow.

National Ports Policy was approved by Government and published in March 2013.

A key reform introduced by National Ports Policy was the tiered categorisation of the sector into –

·         Ports of National Significance (Tier 1): Cork, Dublin and Shannon Foynes

·         Ports of National Significance (Tier 2): Waterford and Rosslare Europort[1]

.         Ports of Regional Significance: Drogheda, Dún Laoghaire, Galway, New Ross and Wicklow

The Ports of National Significance (Tiers 1 and 2) are our key international maritime gateways and collectively handle approximately 90% of all tonnage handled at Irish ports in any given year.

National Ports Policy recommends that the designated Ports of Regional Significance are transferred to more appropriate local authority led governance structures. The five Ports of Regional Significance (Drogheda, Dún Laoghaire, Galway, New Ross and Wicklow) retain important roles as facilitators of their regional economies and in some instances as centres of marine related amenity and tourism activities. However, the scale and nature of these activities are not of a scale that warrant continued central Government involvement, and, in line with the principles of Putting People First-Action Programme for Effective Local Government the oversight of these regionally significant ports should be carried out at the level of Government most suitable to their role and function.

The five ports collectively handle approximately 4% of total tonnage at Irish ports. The five ports will transfer to local authority led governance structures under one of the two possible methods outlined in the Harbours Act 2015:

A transfer of shareholding in the existing company structure and retention of the existing company, or

A dissolution of the existing company structure and complete integration within local authority structures.

The Act does not prescribe the model of transfer for any of the five ports. Instead, it allows for the most appropriate model of governance to be chosen in respect of each individual company. The manner of transfer selected in each case will be the one that finds broad consensus and agreement between the parties. If there is disagreement between the port company and the local authority over the model of transfer, then the final decision as to the model chosen will be a Ministerial function.

The transfer to new governance arrangements is effected by Ministerial Order which is consented to and signed by the Minister for the Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, prior to being signed by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport is currently funding the relevant local authorities to assist them in conducting a due diligence process ahead of the transfers.

Wicklow port is the first port to transfer to a Local Authority and will transfer under model (2), i.e. the company will be dissolved on the day of transfer and the port will become part of the Local Authority.

Work is well advanced in relation to due diligence in the four other ports due to transfer.

It is anticipated that the remaining ports of regional significance will transfer over the coming 12 to 18 months.

The National Ports Policy document is available on the Department’s website www.dttas.ie