Harbours Bill

The Harbours Bill was introduced by the Minister for Infrastructure, on Monday, 15 June 2026.

The Bill completed its Second Stage on Tuesday, 23 June 2026 and was referred to the Committee for Infrastructure for scrutiny (the Committee Stage of the Bill).

The primary purpose of the Order is to modernise the legislative and governance framework for Northern Ireland’s Trust Ports. Trust Ports are autonomous, statutory bodies and are run for the benefit of all their stakeholders. This legislation is to enable them to operate more efficiently and strengthen their contribution to the regional economy. In 2025 the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) completed a review of Trust Ports in Northern Ireland to ensure they are well placed to support economic growth, operate effectively, and respond to future opportunities.

This objective, in part, will be achieved with the enactment of subordinate legislation in the form of four harbour orders made under section 1 of the Harbours Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 for the ports of Belfast, Coleraine, Londonderry and Warrenpoint. These Orders will ensure the ports can operate more independently, provide enhanced commercial powers which must continue to support port-related objectives and maintain the financial health of the port.

However, primary legislation is required to update the governance to address the Office for National Statistics (ONS) classification of Trust Ports. This classification has no legal effect on the statutory powers, functions, or ownership of Trust Ports in Northern Ireland. The need for this arises from the Trust Port borrowings requiring capital budget cover from the Department and so this borrowing is effectively competing with our Departmental projects.

Further information on the Bill can be found below:

• Harbours Bill as Introduced
• Harbours Bill Explanatory and Financial Memorandum as Introduced

An Explanatory and Financial Memorandum (EFM) is a document that accompanies a bill. It provides a detailed explanation of the bill's purpose, background, policy objectives, and its potential financial, human rights, and other impacts.

Call for Evidence

As part of the Assembly’s legislative processes, the Committee will now consider and take evidence on the Bill and report its opinion to the Assembly. This is known as the 'Committee Stage' of the Bill. It is the responsibility of the Committee to examine the provisions within the Bill during the Committee Stage.

As part of its work, the Committee is seeking views from stakeholders on the objectives, proposals and potential consequences of the Bill and would welcome your views and comments on its contents.

The closing date for submissions is 2 September 2026

How to submit your views

It is important that your submission is structured to address the specific clauses and schedules of the Bill. If appropriate, it should include any amendments you wish to propose to the text of the Bill.

Written submissions should be sent electronically in Word format (not PDF) to: committee.infrastructure@niassembly.gov.uk

If you cannot submit electronically you may send a hard copy written submission to:

Clerk to the Committee for Infrastructure
Room 416

Parliament Buildings
Ballymiscaw
Stormont,
Belfast,
BT4 3XX.

Organisations or individuals responding to this call for views should note that their written submission (either in whole or part) may be published on the Committee webpage and may be quoted in the Committee’s report or referred to in Committee meetings (which are public and are broadcast).

The Committee recognises that in some circumstances people may prefer for their evidence to be treated as confidential or published anonymously. If you wish to do this, please make this clear when submitting your evidence.

Before sending us your views please read the Northern Ireland Assembly Committees Privacy Notice.  This tells you how we process your personal data.

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