Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on maritime employment in (a) North Wales and (b) the UK of Irish Ferries’ deployment of a new vessel on the Holyhead-Dublin route from September 2018.

This is a commercial decision and therefore no assessment has been made by Government. However, we are pleased to see the commitment from Irish Ferries to operate on this route.