Mr. Pat Keating:

Shannon Foynes Port Company is Ireland’s largest bulk port company and has statutory jurisdiction on the Shannon Estuary covering 500 sq. km. With channel depths of up to 32 m, we handle the largest vessels entering Irish waters and have capacity to handle over 11 m tonnes per annum. Our activities have a trade value of circa €8.5 billion per annum supporting 3,900 jobs.

Both EU and national policies, including the national development plan, endorse the strategic importance of Shannon Foynes Port which is a tier 1 port of national strategic importance and a core corridor port in the EU’s TEN-T regulations. To date, we have made several successful funding applications under the TEN-T budget, receiving grant aid supporting projects costing over €40 million.

Importantly, there are several sites adjoining the estuary, extending to 1,200 ha, which are zoned for maritime development, making Shannon Foynes ideally suited for future national port infrastructure of scale for this country. To fully realise these comparative advantages, expansion and development of the port is led by its 30-year master plan, Vision 2041, which was updated in 2022 with the assistance of global engineering company Bechtel. The updated Vision 2041 review was launched by the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, last November.

Our plans take account of changes in policy, such as 2030 and 2050 climate action targets, together with changed freight market dynamics since 2013. Accordingly, future port expansion at Shannon Foynes is generally classified over four main themes: the deployment of floating offshore wind at scale; the green hydrogen and transition facilitating alternative fuels production; required port expansion to meet expanded, diversified and more sustainable logistics services; and the implementation of the Limerick docklands framework strategy.

With regard to the deployment of floating offshore wind at scale, our plans demonstrate that €100 billion of offshore wind farm investment can locate in the Atlantic within 36 hours of the estuary, and that in order to support that offshore investment, €12 billion in supply chain investment could locate to the Shannon Estuary by 2050. Our plans also provide for the development of a 1 GW-scale green hydrogen production facility powered by offshore wind. This facility also allows for production of derivative fuels such as green ammonia and-or e-methanol.

In addition to becoming an integration port for floating offshore wind, the Vision 2041 review found that Foynes Port, conditional on developing the proposed new deepwater quay at Foynes Island, could add substantial freight capacity to the national supply chain. Importantly, this capacity at Foynes will be situated at an uncongested point in the national road and rail network, assuming completion of the Vision 2041 transport objectives.

The €100 million Limerick to Foynes rail connection and the €450 million Limerick to Foynes road scheme are key requirements of Vision 2041. These crucial hinterland connections, together with the port infrastructure planned for Foynes, will transform the Foynes terminal into a major national freight and logistics hub. This connectivity, together with its 180 ha port estate, ensures Shannon Foynes can provide substantial capacity and resilience for the national freight sector.

Successful implementation of our plans, by delivering on the identified offshore renewable energy and logistics opportunities, will be transformational for Shannon Estuary and the country. The Atlantic’s renewables resources could provide an almost infinite green energy supply, ensuring our country becomes energy independent for the first time in its history. Freight transport can be considerably decarbonised by reducing tonne per kilometre travelled by using the planned Foynes logistics hub and producing e-fuels.

Resulting economic impacts will be tens of thousands of jobs created and billions of euro invested in supply chain and route-to-market infrastructure and facilities over the entire western seaboard.

The successful implementation of our plans requires a collaborative and co-operative approach with all stakeholders. In that regard, the following areas should be addressed in the short term. On offshore policy, we welcome recent policy updates, such as the policy statement relating to phase 2, calling for 2 GW of floating offshore to be in development by 2030, and the national industrial strategy for offshore wind published by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment recently. It is essential that the milestones for offshore wind continue to be prioritised in order that we can deliver the requisite port infrastructure on time. We should also ensure that the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA, becomes operational in quarter 3 of 2023 and that An Bord Pleanála has the human resources to meet prescribed timelines. Completion of the Limerick to Foynes road scheme and the reopening of the Foynes to Limerick rail line are mission critical. With regard to enabling infrastructure, new deepwater port infrastructure and updated offshore grid strategy are essential to enable the utilisation of our immense renewable resources in the Atlantic. Shannon Foynes is addressing the former and calls for the latter to be fast-tracked.

As regards funding, new port infrastructure estimated to cost €500 million will be required to facilitate our plans. However, this investment could mobilise more than €100 billion in private sector investment in offshore renewables and supply chain activities. We note that the Department of Transport is planning a new ports policy this year. We respectfully request that new port funding mechanisms would be considered for port projects of national strategic significance.