Debate contribution: Harbours Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Andrew McMurray on 23 June 2026.

MLA

Mr Andrew McMurray

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

23 June 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Harbours Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5636844

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I will speak first in my role as the Alliance Party's infrastructure spokesperson and then as MLA for South Down. I echo what the Committee Chairperson said about the approach to the Bill. From the outset, it should be said that we support the ports. We are an island nation, and there is only one way that trade will come in, which is through the ports. That is why this is an important Bill to support. I support the principle of the Bill and the goals that it aims to achieve. As has been mentioned, the Bill covers maritime orders and financial regulations, but I will concentrate on the regional economy, as has already been noted, and on accountability, which has also been touched on. Fundamentally, the Bill is about allowing trust ports to invest in key areas of growth. That will drive the Northern Ireland economy, and it has the potential to aid and drive the economy in South Down. Belfast Harbour would, through its master plan, like to make large-scale investments in renewable energy infrastructure but is currently severely hampered in that regard. We should be in a position to support investment in renewables, but there is no hope of achieving our net zero objectives and obligations, as well as securing our future energy needs, without that kind of investment. We need to put the right regulatory conditions in place in order to remove those unnecessary barriers. Investment in renewable energy by Belfast Harbour could have a trickle-down effect on the ports in my constituency. Kilkeel and Ardglass ports have great potential for ancillary industries, such as the maintenance and security of offshore energy production. I am on the record as repeatedly calling for more investment in those areas and championing the great benefits that the blue-green economy can bring to the fishing ports in my constituency. The current classification of trust ports as public corporations dampens economic development, and, as a result, Northern Ireland is at risk of falling further behind in important areas of growth. That is the reality. Reclassification would remove those constraints and open up new opportunities to support the Executive's wider policy objectives with regard to economic growth, tourism and decarbonisation. Reclassification requires limiting some of the Department's powers, particularly the power to issue directions to trust ports. Several of my constituents have raised that with me as a major concern, and Ms Ennis also referred to it. The Minister will be aware of the contentious situation at Warrenpoint harbour and the questions that have been asked about her Department's ability to intervene. I have tabled questions for written answer to the Minister in relation to those powers and their implications for Warrenpoint. My constituents are concerned that the Bill removes the Department's power to issue directions to the Warrenpoint Harbour Authority while adding no new duties on the port in respect of transparency, community engagement or environmental planning and compliance. I hope that the Minister can respond to some of those concerns directly. As I said, Alliance supports the reclassification of trust ports in principle, and we understand that that requires a limiting of the Department's powers. However, I am convinced that we need to have stronger safeguards. Other regions handle these matters better than we do currently, and we want to see the strengthening of accountability to the local community. Alliance called for that and other supports in its response to the Department's review of trust ports last year. The Bill is an opportunity to strengthen oversight and accountability. That opportunity must not be missed. In the consultation, the Department acknowledged that there were areas where it may be possible to strengthen the transparency and accountability of the trust ports. The consultation referred to the example of Dover, where two members of the board must have special knowledge or experience of the harbour's position in the local community.

Dover also has a port users group, an important community forum that must be consulted on all significant developments in the port, and the appointment of two community representatives on the board.

The consultation also made reference to a draft code of practice that was developed in 2008 but has not yet been implemented. The code of practice states that trust ports are to be run for the benefit of their stakeholders, and that explicitly includes secondary stakeholders such as local community groups and specific interest groups covering environmental and other matters. Additional transparency measures were included in the draft code of conduct. None of those potential oversight and accountability mechanisms has been included in the Bill. I will be keen to explore that with the Committee during Committee Stage to see what more can be done in that regard. As Alliance spokesperson on infrastructure, I look forward to scrutinising the Bill in Committee in the coming weeks and months, when the interests of Warrenpoint will be foremost in my mind. However, as has been stated or surmised, the Bill is about looking at outdated controls, not at the complete removal of controls; about Office for National Statistics reclassification; and about being commercially supportive to our ports in order to achieve our renewable energy objectives.

862 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 16:08 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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