Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests. I represent Dún Laoghaire, and I am sure they are very happy for Shannon Foynes Port to be a tier 1 port as opposed to a tier 2 one, given we went through that process previously.

I also congratulate the Shannon Foynes Port Company on the funding it has drawn down from the Connecting Europe Facility.

Mr. Keating mentioned channel depths of up to 32 m and specifically referenced consistently floating offshore. Is any consideration being given to fixed wind farms? Is there a reason, such as cost or an infrastructural basis, for only floating being explored? In 2013, Shannon Foynes was exploring wave energy, which has not been mentioned yet. Mr. Keating might elaborate on that. He mentioned that the Shannon Foynes Port Company had commissioned a report and €12 billion in supply chain investment was earmarked. A copy of that report might be useful for committee members following on from today's engagement.

My third question relates to the other infrastructural projects mentioned in the opening remarks, which is the need for the completion of the Limerick to Foynes Adare bypass road scheme and the Foynes to Limerick railway line. Those two projects in particular are big asks and are running separately to what the port company will ultimately need. How are they progressing? Fibre-optic was also mentioned. Connectivity is obviously very important for the cluster to develop. Education was mentioned. Mr. Keating might give us an update on that. The identification of offshore grid connectivity points is crucial if we are to have floating or other types of wind farms in the estuary. What potential exists for connection to onshore grids?