Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:12 pm on 15 May 2018.
Brexit, of course, is a challenge for Holyhead and the other ports such as Pembroke Dock and Fishguard. I can remember a time when there were tolls at Holyhead. Not everybody was checked, but if you were stopped there, there was a problem as regards a delay before moving on.
For me, there are two things. Firstly, we don’t know exactly what the relationship will be between Holyhead and Ireland. We’ve said that nothing should go there, by saying that the UK should remain in the customs union and that is vital. When I spoke to Irish Ferries, one thing that struck me was that they said there is potential as regards ferries going from Ireland to France directly, but that the capacity isn’t quite the same as that from Dublin to Holyhead. Their problem was that they would carry something like fish and then find that they couldn’t get out of the Holyhead port in time and then they would miss the ferry at Dover and their load would perish. That is something that they considered would have to be resolved.
At the moment, I don’t see any kind of investment from the United Kingdom Government in the network in Holyhead, but what I wouldn't like to see would be tolls and, even worse, we wouldn’t want to see any kind of passport control in Holyhead. All that that would do is make it even more difficult to use the port and give a competitive advantage to ports such as Cairnryan and Liverpool.