Fishermen in the south-east have called on the Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Pat the Cope Gallagher, to intervene in the row over the privatisation of riverside property in Waterford port.
The proposed sale of a 12.5-acre land bank on the River Suir by the Port of Waterford would put fishermen's lives and livelihoods at risk, as the area provided the only safe berthing for certain vessels on the south-eastern coastline, Mr Denis O'Flaherty, spokesman for the fishermen, said.
The sale is "akin to Aer Rianta selling off part of Dublin airport and telling Ryanair to get lost", Mr O'Flaherty said.
Closing date for tenders for the property, valued at more than €1 million an acre, had been set for late January but has been extended to mid-February.
However, Mr Gallagher, who represents the State as sole shareholder of the port, said he could not intervene because of legislation which allows ports to run their own businesses.
He said he hoped that the purchaser of the property would enter into negotiations to allow the south-eastern fishing fleet to continue using the berthing area.
The Port of Waterford, which admitted that the sale was designed to meet some of its financial difficulties, has also "strenuously rejected" claims that it was putting fishermen's livelihoods at risk.
Up to 20 beam trawlers and scallop and whitefish boats use the deep water berths at the north quays and Frank Cassin wharf, and the area has accommodated up to 40 fishing vessels from as far north as Donegal during bad weather.
Mr O'Flaherty, whose family runs the Saltees Fish Co, of Kilmore Quay, and has begun a new ferry service this week between Rosslare and France, said that up to €80,000 was paid annually to the port in harbour dues.
The port recently increased its harbour dues and has offered to accommodate the vessels at the Belview terminal, but Mr O'Flaherty said that this would be a temporary discharge area only. "Basically, the port is trying to get rid of us, and yet our company alone depends for our €15 million annual export trade to France and Spain on Waterford."
The Port of Waterford inherited what it described as "substantial legacy debts", including capital loans and pension liabilities, when it was incorporated as a limited liability company in 1999. The new structure was provided for under the 1996 Harbours Act, which aimed to give State ports greater autonomy and control over their finances.
The port said that the legacy issues had been "made more problematic owing to the poor performance of pension funds during the last five years". Under the ports policy statement published last month by the Department of the Marine, ports are directed to run commercially without exchequer support, while also providing adequate capacity for future economic needs.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has criticised the approach as amounting to a policy of privatisation, with the risk that "crucial gateways" could fall into the hands of "speculators".
A port spokesman said that commercial ports could not be expected to facilitate fisheries vessels paying uncompetitive berthing charges. He said that the Minister's department and fishermen had been given notice for "some years" that the land would be disposed of. The department's commercial State ports section had a very limited budget, compared to "tens of millions of euro" at the disposal of the fisheries harbours section.
The fishermen argue that they require just 300 metres of the 900-metre berthing space being sold as part of the property sale. The Minister of State for the Marine should ensure that this was identified as a core asset, Mr O'Flaherty said.
Estate agents say that the site's zoning for city centre commercial uses meant that Waterford City Council is likely to look favourably on proposals for the north quays, which include retail outlets, offices, public, cultural and recreational buildings, hotels,guesthouses, restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, underground and multi-storey car-parks, and townhouses and apartments.
