Cautious approach on economy urged

THE economy may be showing signs of an improvement but a cautious approach is needed to maintain the upturn, it emerged yesterday.

New figures have shown Irish ports handled almost three per cent more tonnes of goods last year than in 2002.

The report, from the CSO, revealed port traffic had risen for the first time since 2001.

But David Duffy, of the Economic Social Research Institute, warned against economic complacency.

“I would not say everything in the garden is rosy,” he said. “Domestically things still seem to be improving, we still have to be very careful that competition remains the key to improvements.

Imports still account for the bulk of business at the ports, with 72% of total goods handled brought into the country.

The report showed port tonnage rose by more than 1.246 million tonnes to 46.165 million.

Dublin remains the busiest port, with almost 500,000 passenger vehicles, buses and trade vehicles travelling through in 2002.

Rosslare is second busiest as regards vehicle numbers.

The figures also showed goods received into the country increased by 3.3% compared to 2002, while goods forwarded on rose by 1.5%.

The number of vessels arriving into the country was 17,183 last year, an increase of 1.9% on the previous year.

Of the total goods handled, dry bulk accounted for 32.5%, liquid bulk 28.1%, roll on/roll off 21.4%, lift on/lift off 14.2% and break bulk 3.8%.