Chairperson's Statement

Trade and Financial Review

I am pleased to report on a strong year of growth for Dublin Port Company (the “Company”) in 2022. Total throughput for the year amounted to 36.8m tonnes representing an increase of 1.8m tonnes (5.2%) on the previous year.

This is a particularly robust performance given the challenges presented by Brexit and Covid-19 over the previous two years, together with the general economic environment in 2022 as a result of worldwide inflationary pressures which impacted consumer spending in the latter half of the year.

To put the trading performance in context it is worth noting that overall throughput is back to within 3.6% of the tonnage recorded in the port’s record year in 2019, pre-Brexit and pre-Covid. Moreover, within the unitised sector overall volumes are back to within 2.2% of 2019 levels. Indeed, when pre-Brexit stockpiling is allowed for in the final months of 2019, our performance shows a remarkable resilience in the face of two such seismic shocks.

There has also been a significant shift in trade patterns post-Brexit. In this regard RoRo volumes on direct European services have increased by 64.4% over 2019 levels while volumes on direct U.K. services are down by 17.8%. Volumes on the longer haul European services are pre-dominantly driver unaccompanied vehicles which results in further capacity pressures on the port’s scarce land resources.

On the Bulk side of the business, Bulk Liquid volumes increased by 19.7% to 4.7m tonnes while Bulk Solid volumes increased by 5.2% to 2.1m tonnes.

Tourist traffic is also climbing back towards the pre-pandemic levels of 2019 with passenger numbers almost doubling in 2022 to 1.7 million. While they are still some way behind where they had been three years ago at -13.5% for passengers and 10.7% for tourist vehicles, the gap is continuing to close.

Financial Analysis

The growth in throughput volumes has contributed to another strong financial performance in 2022.

• Turnover for the year amounted to a record high €101.5m representing a €15.7m (18.3%) increase on the previous year.
• Operating profit amounted to €44.2m which was €8.8m (24.8%) higher than in the previous year.
• EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation) amounted to €59.3m representing a €10.6m (21.7%) increase on 2021.
• Profit for the Financial Year amounted to €41.3m compared to €26.0 in 2021 representing an increase of €15.3m (59.0%).

A comprehensive overview of the Trading and Financial performance is set out in the Chief Executive’s Review and the Directors Report.

Masterplan 2040 – Reviewed 2018

Dublin Port Company’s mandate under the Harbours Acts and National Port Policy is to provide the port infrastructure needed to facilitate Ireland’s international trade in tandem with the other national ports. In this regard Dublin Port’s position as the major gateway for trade has been undiminished by the impacts of Covid-19 and Brexit. The Board remains focussed on ensuring the timely delivery of port critical capacity to meet projected demand and respond to the changing nature of maritime trade (for example, larger vessels with declining proportion of unaccompanied trade).

The Company’s capital investment programme is underpinned by Masterplan 2040 – Reviewed 2018 which presents a vision for the future development of the Port consistent with continued economic growth while critically examining how the existing land use at Dublin Port can be optimised.

The Masterplan has been prepared by Dublin Port Company in order to:

• Plan for future sustainable growth and changes in facilitating seaborne trade in goods and passenger movements to and from Ireland and the Dublin region in particular.
• Provide an overall context for future investment decisions.
• Reflect and provide for current national and regional policies, local guidelines and initiatives.
• Ensure there is harmony and synergy between the plans for the Port and those for the Dublin Docklands Area, Dublin City and the Greater Dublin Area.
• Give certainty to customers about how the Port will develop in the future to meet their requirements.

The Board therefore, is committed to implementation of the projects in our 5-year plan while continuing to plan for the medium to long-term. This is informed by:

• Government policies for continued economic growth, climate action and sustainable development.
• The continuation of a vibrant multinational manufacturing sector dominated by the chemical, pharmaceutical and IT industries.
• The strong contribution that food and drink exports make to our economy.
• The increase in population from 2.96m in 1951 to 4.65m in 2016 and its possible expansion to around 5.6m by 2040 as expected in the National Planning Framework.
• Enabling major growth in construction associated with national housing policy and the NDP delivery.

The Masterplan also outlines how Dublin Port Company will work to better integrate the Port with the City and people of Dublin. In this regard there will be a continued focus on heritage preservation and public access, development of walking and cycling connectivity and supporting environmental conservation, community and sustainability objectives.

Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID) Projects envisaged under the Masterplan

In order to deliver the full vision of the Masterplan it is envisaged that we will need to implement three large scale Strategic Infrastructure Development Projects and our focus to date has been on the first two of the projects required – the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment Project and the MP2 Project.

Alexandra Basin Redevelopment Project (ABR)

The developments include the deepening and extension of existing quay walls in Alexandra Basin, the provision of a new 270m long RoRo jetty together with two new RoRo berths within the inner basin, infill of the basin at berths 52/53, the construction of a new river berth and dredging of the navigational channel to a depth of 10m below chart datum. The final main quay wall elements of the project are currently under construction and due to complete in 2025.

MP2 Project

In July 2020, An Bord Pleanála granted a 15-year planning permission for the MP2 Project, the second of the three SIDs required in order to deliver Masterplan 2040. In addition, the requisite Foreshore and Dumping at Sea consents for the project were secured in 2022.

These permissions will allow the construction of two berths with an overall length of 545 metres for LoLo container ships and two berths with a combined length of 572 metres for RoRo ferries. The project will include the redevelopment of one of the existing oil jetties to provide an additional berth for container ships as and when the demand for fossil fuels permanently reduces in response to national climate change policies.

Between the ABR Project, which is under construction, and the MP2 Project, where construction commenced in 2023, Dublin Port Company has now secured all of the planning permissions required for the major development works planned on the northern side of the port under Masterplan 2040 and our focus now has shifted to plan for implementation of the third SID envisaged under the Masterplan – the 3FM project.

3FM Project

In November 2021 the Company launched the 3FM Project, the third and final Masterplan project needed to complete the development of Dublin Port and bring it to its ultimate and final capacity by 2040.

The 3FM Project will deliver a new LoLo terminal capable of handling 353,000 containers per annum and a new RoRo terminal capable of being scaled up to 252,000 freight trailers per annum. The Project will be delivered on approximately one-fifth of Dublin Port’s lands located on the Poolbeg Peninsula.

The Project is at the pre-planning stage, and it is envisaged that the Company will lodge a planning application with An Bord Pleanála following a period of public consultation and consideration of all feedback. Following that consultation, we will review the detailed project design and environmental impact reports required for large infrastructure projects before proceeding to planning.

The project as currently envisaged has seven main elements:

• A new 2.2km road called the Southern Port Access Route (SPAR) to link the north and south port areas, taking Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) from the Poolbeg Peninsula off the existing public road network. It will include a new 190m bridge on the River Liffey, with a 45m lifting section, immediately east of the Tom Clarke Bridge. It will also provide pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users with a less congested route for active travel across the city.
• The construction of a new container terminal in front of the ESB’s Poolbeg Power Station with an annual throughput capacity of 353,000 containers (approximately 600,000 twenty-foot equivalent units) replacing the existing MTL Terminal near Sean Moore Road roundabout.
• The redevelopment of the existing container terminal to create additional RoRo facilities.
• Creation of a 325-metre diameter ship turning circle in front of Pigeon House Harbour.
• A Sailing and Rowing campus of 1.9 hectares, known as the ‘Maritime Village’, which will provide for a range of users, including sailing and rowing clubs, Sea Scouts, the Nautical Trust, and local boat owners. It will also include a public plaza.
• Extensive Community Facilities including a Port Park and landscaped zone of 2.7 hectares and 5.5km of active travel path/ greenway for pedestrians and cyclists, taking them from North Wall Quay, beside the Point Roundabout, through to Pigeon House Harbour at the heart of the Poolbeg Peninsula. At North Wall Quay, this will link with the 1.4km Liffey Tolka active travel route which the Company hopes to commence in 2024. This 1.4km route will bring pedestrians and cyclists as far as the Tolka Estuary where they can then connect with the 3.2km Tolka Estuary Greenway that the Company is currently constructing.
• Provision of a 1 hectare site to accommodate utilities needed, firstly for the City’s district heating scheme powered by the Covanta waste to energy plant and, secondly, to accommodate a range of utilities for the Irish Glass Bottle development.

Dublin Port Post 2040 Dialogue

In my Report last year, I reported on the Dublin Port Post 2040 Dialogue initiative which the Company launched in 2020. The debate in relation to this matter is of critical importance in terms of ensuring that essential port capacity is available along the east coast as inevitably Dublin Port reaches full capacity. This needs a continued focus on national port planning and the challenges of delivering port infrastructure.

We know from experience that seventeen years is a relatively short period of time in the context of delivering large scale infrastructure projects and it is vital, therefore, that we begin to plan now, so that long-term development of essential port infrastructure can continue to take place in a timely, sustainable fashion. Capacity of national port facilities must always have a reasonable margin over demand to cater for peaks, evolving supply chain demands and factors causing disruption.

It is in the context of addressing these long term planning requirements that the Company published a series of seven papers as part of the Dublin Port Post 2040 Dialogue to ensure we have early and comprehensive consultation on this nationally important issue. Long-term planning of large infrastructure is very challenging.

Through the papers, the Company has sought to explain and contextualise the challenges ahead in planning the long-term delivery of port capacity to meet future demand on the east coast of Ireland by 2040, or sooner. Additional capacity can be achieved either by expansion of existing ports or a new greenfield development. Either way, such development must navigate a complex planning environment that takes considerable time and investment. In addition, port development is expensive requiring large-scale capital both for the port structures and the necessary transport and other enabling infrastructure.

Conclusion

I would like to thank the management team and all the staff of Dublin Port Company for their continued commitment over what has been a particularly challenging period over the last three years. The manner in which everybody continued to work through the challenges of Covid-19 and Brexit while remaining focussed on the long-term objectives and strategy set by the Board has been exceptional.

It has been an equally challenging period for all our customers and stakeholders, and I would like to thank them for their continued support.

I wish to thank the Minister and the dedicated staff at the Department of Transport for their active engagement with us over the course of 2022.

I wish to thank my colleagues on the Board for their work over the past year and I look forward to continuing to work with them in the coming year as we continue to fulfil our exciting role of stewardship over one of the State’s most important infrastructural assets – Dublin Port.

In last year’s report we acknowledged the enormous contribution of Eamonn O’Reilly as Chief Executive over a twelve-year period from 2010 to 2022. Following Eamonn’s decision to depart the Company the Board undertook an extensive recruitment process, and I am delighted to welcome Barry O’Connell who joined us in November 2022. Barry joins Dublin Port Company from the Coca-Cola System, where he has held multiple senior executive roles in bottling operations around the world since 1992.

Barry joins the Company at an important and exciting time as we focus on delivering the final Masterplan project, the 3FM Project, through planning and achieving the ultimate capacity envisaged in Masterplan 2040. This will futureproof Dublin Port and national port capacity for the medium term, but also continue Dublin Port’s mission to further integrate the City and port communities. The board is confident that Barry and the executive team will build on the Company’s strong financial position and operational performance to deliver on these strategic objectives.

Jerry Grant, Chairperson

31^st March 2023