Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will direct my initial questions to Mr. Keating. There is much good work going on in the Shannon Foynes Port Company, with €8.5 billion generated through its activities, supporting 3,900 jobs. Going forward, there is huge potential on the Clare side of the estuary. That has been identified in the strategic framework. As we know, Moneypoint will be moving out of fossil fuels by 2025 and its future beyond that is not fully known. However, it is widely expected that it will relate to offshore renewables, particularly wind energy. Moneypoint has an awful lot to offer the region and the whole west. It has 400 kV power lines that were installed in the 1980s, the likes of which we have not seen installed elsewhere in Ireland in recent decades. The jetty at Moneypoint is also 380 m long. I am sure it is the envy of the people in Foynes. It will not have the same level of usage when we move away from coal shipments coming in to west Clare. There is a huge opportunity to have a longer jetty there in the deepest channel of water in the Shannon, which can accommodate vessels up to 290 m in length. It is colossal. Its potential is huge.

How does Mr. Keating envisage Clare looping in to all Shannon Foynes's plans going forward? I also ask him to comment on the cross-Shannon cable. This is the large, heavy volume electricity cable that will go below the estuary from Moneypoint to Kilpaddoge in north Kerry. Has Mr. Keating any inputs there in terms of generating the renewable economy along the estuary?