Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I completely agree with the Deputy about the urgency around this. I know that all ports across the country, many of which the Minister and I have visited, are working on their own plans to tap into the opportunities in operation and maintenance in the west, for example, in Galway. With regard to Shannon Foynes, the Minister attended the launch of the port's Vision 2041 strategic review. I congratulate Shannon Foynes Port Company and Bechtel on their report, which sets out the opportunity in the Shannon Estuary as a hub for facilitating the development of offshore wind along with the production of clean fuels, including green hydrogen, ammonia and methanol.

This is a multi-port approach and our ports are positioning themselves. They are working with the Department and looking at funding opportunities, for example, the Connecting Europe Facility, CEF, to which I alluded earlier, which is potentially capable of providing funding for studies and infrastructure across our ports. There is, therefore, substantial work taking place between industry, the Department and the ports examining what is required, particularly in the run-up to the approaching auctions.

See this speech in context