Mr. David McGarry:

I thank the committee for this invitation. I have served as chairperson of Shannon Foynes Port Company for the past five years. I am married with four children, and have worked for 35 years in general management and finance. I am a chartered accountant, having trained with KPMG. I am a chartered director and hold a BComm degree from University College Cork, UCC and a master of business administration, MBA, from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. During my career, I have worked with NCB Stockbrokers; Indaver, the renewable energy group, as its finance director; and the Shannon Airport Group, as its inaugural chief financial officer, CFO. I currently work with Enva Group, a waste management organisation, as its head of acquisitions.

I am experienced across industries and have worked and lived internationally for several years. I know the Shannon region, having lived and worked in County Clare while at Shannon Group. I am now based in Dublin. I was also appointed chair of Tailte Éireann on 30 March last. I have non-executive director experience as a former director of Bus Éireann and other private companies.

As chairperson, I have a number of ongoing priorities leading the board of the port. I want to ensure the port has a clear vision and strategic plan; ensure financial and operational performance, good customer focus and sufficient capacity and infrastructure; and ensure it has a high-performing board that supports management and staff, implements Government policy, demonstrates good corporate governance and builds good relationships.

I am pleased to say the port is in good financial health, paying record dividends to the State. In 2021, the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, EBITDA, or operating profit, was €7.6 million. Port turnover is approximately €16 million. The port will report another excellent year in 2022 and is investing €28 million on infrastructure projects this year, largely in Foynes, as part of a €50 million, five-year capital investment programme.

Shannon Foynes Port Company is responsible for the maritime management of the Shannon Estuary. The port is an economic driver of the mid-west region. As the State’s largest bulk port, it handles over 10 million tonnes per annum, which is approximately 20% of Ireland’s maritime cargo, across six terminals on the estuary. The Foynes Port, Limerick docks and Shannon Airport facilities are owned and operated by Shannon Foynes Port Company. The other three facilities at Tarbert, Aughinish and Moneypoint are managed privately but serviced by the port. The objectives of the company are set out in the Harbours Act 1996, which states we should manage, control, operate and develop the harbour. The port operates in line with the 2013 national ports policy, which has classified the port as a port of national significance.

Shannon Foynes Port has a clear strategic vision outlined in its master plan, namely, the Vision 2041 document. Vision 2041 is a 30-year plan covering 2011 to 2041 and is on track. It has been instrumental in setting policy with regard to the port’s development requirements. In Vision 2041, we stated that a mid-term review would take place. We appointed Bechtel, a global infrastructure developer and engineering consultancy firm, to lead this review. The review was launched by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, at Foynes last November. The review recognises that the port’s growth and expansion plan has evolved since 2011. The review focuses on the opportunities and obligations around climate action and national supply chain logistics. This review looked at three main drivers for growth and expansion: the deployment of floating offshore wind, FLOW, at scale; green industrial development and transition facilitating alternative fuels production; and port expansion to develop more sustainable logistics services, around container development at Foynes in particular.

Shannon Foynes is the closest deep-water port to the Atlantic wind resource, quantified at more than 70,000 MW and located within 36 hours' travel time. The review determined that 30 GW of this can be constructed from ports on the Shannon Estuary by 2050. This represents more than €50 billion of floating wind farm investment, creating thousands of jobs. The port is examining how it can develop Foynes Island to support this, which would cost approximately €500 million to develop.

The review also noted that the estuary is ideally placed to play a leading role in green industrial development such as green hydrogen fuel production from the offshore energy. This will help transition to a net zero future by 2050 and enhance Ireland’s energy security objective. The review also noted the requirement to expand to meet sustainable logistical services. The port plans to implement unitised container services from Foynes to meet this demand in due course. The port also continues to develop and invest in Limerick Docks, providing services for users and has an exciting plan to redevelop one of its non-core assets known as the Bannatyne building, which is located on the Dock Road.

Shannon Foynes Port remains in a unique position to assist in the delivery of many State priorities, such as offshore wind energy development, assisting the transition to a low-carbon society and enhancing regional accessibility and economic development under Project Ireland 2040. The upgrade of the Limerick to Foynes road will stimulate the growth of the port and act as a counterbalance to the economic growth of greater Dublin.

As chairperson, my vision will be to continue to work with the board, the chief executive officer and the management team. I will be focused on operational excellence and the implementation of the developed strategy as identified in Vision 2041. This strategy supports the overall development of the region and co-ordinates with the various Government plans to develop the port as a national asset and an enabler of socioeconomic development of significant scale.

I believe in public service, teamwork, good ethics and corporate governance. I have developed a unified board and worked in harmony with the CEO and his team to have good relationships with the Minister and the Department of Transport and various external bodies. We work co-operatively and transparently with the industry, the community and other local and national stakeholders. I would be very pleased to be reappointed as chairperson because I have enjoyed the role very much. That summarises my record, vision and relevant experience for this role. I will be only too happy to take questions on any aspects of what I have said. I thank the committee.