Investment in ports is geared more towards protecting "unsustainable" fishing jobs than developing our commercial shipping industry, according to the Port of Waterford chairman, Ben Gavin.
At the Irish Ports Association conference in Faithlegg, Co Waterford, yesterday, Mr Gavin, a Fianna Fáil councillor on Tramore Town Council, said: "There needs to be much greater private-sector involvement, though this should not let the Government lose sight of the onus on it to maintain a vibrant ports sector that facilitates economic growth."
Mr Gavin argued that responsibility for the State's ports should be transferred from the Department of the Marine to the Department of Transport.
"I question the links that see commercial ports required to operate as real-world businesses yet being administered in tandem with the heavily subsidised fisheries sector," he said.