I also raise the issue of the loss of the ferry service from Dún Laoghaire. I thank Senators Norris and Mooney for raising it. It is "Dunleary" to the people living there and I have lived there since I was 12. I used to listen to the sound of the foghorn from the boat as I went to sleep at night. It is a very sad day for people living in the area. I point out the work done by some of the local people in Glasthule to recognise the plight of the forgotten Irish, the people who left on the mail boat, as it was known, some of whom never returned. Last year we had a very poignant reunion in Dún Laoghaire of people who came back from London, some from the likes of Cricklewood, who had never returned to Ireland. It was a moving and evocative meeting of people whose first sight of Dún Laoghaire after all those years was Pigeon House and the Spire. Dún Laoghaire is a wonderful and very beautiful place.

When Stena took over the service in Dún Laoghaire 20 years ago there was great hope it would put in resources. Initially we had the Seacat and the main ferry service but, over time, this reverted to the main ferry service, which became seasonal. Now, we have nothing at all. That is because the service was completely neglected.

Hear, hear.

The facilities and infrastructure were not put in to preserve the service. We now have a very good and modern building, which came from the resources of the people in Dún Laoghaire, but we have no ferry service. Not to put too fine a tooth in it but the ferry service in Dún Laoghaire was neglected not just by Stena but by successive Governments which did not put in the roads structure to allow cars to use the service.

Senators have mentioned the potential sale of Aer Lingus. Stena has rationalised the loss of the service in Dún Laoghaire on the basis that it has another service just ten miles up the road. It is not too much of a stretch to say that if the national air carrier was sold, it would suddenly seem more convenient to locate everything in Dublin, for example, than to have regional centres. It would not take too long to think about rationalising everything to London thereafter. There is a need for a task force to examine the removal of the ferry service from Dún Laoghaire and see what can be done. The answer does not lie with a cruise service and it is not just about the idea that Dún Laoghaire can become some sort of grandiose-----

Marina.

-----marina for the rich. The bottom line is that the ferry service was bringing in much-needed resources to the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company and it was critical to the infrastructure of Dún Laoghaire which has suffered a lot of poverty and neglect. The establishment of the task force is critical. I ask the Leader to bring the matter to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe.