Retain Europort income locally
A call to retain all income from Rosslare Europort within the county was made by Cllr Tony Dempsey at the monthly meeting of Wexford County Council last week.
In a motion Cllr Dempsey said in order to facilitate the proper development of Rosslare Europort and to enable the port to realise its full economic potential, he called for the port to be a separate and autonomous company under the CIE group.
He said: ‘ This would ensure that all profits generated in Rosslare Europort would be retained locally by the new company and reinvested in the future development of the port. The board of directors of the new company should be representative of the various stakeholders.’
Describing Rosslare Europort as one of our most valuable assets, he said is totally under developed. ‘Part of the reason for this is that it has depended on CIE which is caught up in buses and other interests. Give it the autonomy to hold onto its finances and this will improve its borrowing capacity. At one stage it had profits of €7m, but the money went to balance the books elsewhere.’
Cllr Ger Carthy supported the motion, saying there is a stakeholders group in Rosslare Harbour but he has heard very little from them as of late. CEO Tom Enright said there was merit in the motion. Cllr Lisa McDonald said the motion was brilliant, but feared as many motions nothing will come from it.