Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The mid-west has had a great year too. If we look at the performance of Limerick and the mid-west more generally, three of the biggest IDA Ireland announcements in the country this year happened just outside Limerick, involving Analog Devices, Eli Lilly and Verizon. Thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of euro of investment will be coming to the mid-west over the next few years. We are also seeing a lot of infrastructure delivery on the back of that such as the rail connection to Foynes Port and the Adare bypass progressing, albeit slower than some of us would like. In the past couple of weeks, €4 million has been allocated to Cork-Limerick motorway project. There is a lot happening in the mid-west but a lot more will happen in the next number of years.

The Shannon Estuary task force did a fantastic job. I have met the task force a number of times and have spoken to its chair on many occasions now. The big ask from the task force from an offshore wind energy perspective is to ensure Shannon Foynes Port is at the centre of country's plans to assemble and bring ashore offshore wind-generated power. That will happen; it is just a question of how quickly. We need to get a DMAP process under way for the west coast of Ireland. That is happening for the Irish Sea and for the south coast. It is a resourcing issue to make sure it happens on the west coast as well. I am determined to ensure the west coast is not left behind from a timeline perspective. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and I are working on getting the resources in place to make that happen. Clare County Council has been very helpful in that regard.

We are also looking at a demonstrator floating wind project off the west coast and a centre of excellence. Yesterday, I got Cabinet approval for a hugely ambitious offshore wind industrial strategy which will run not just between now and 2030, but beyond. I assure the Deputy that Shannon Foynes Port and the Shannon Estuary is a big part of that vision, which is very real, by the way. ISIF is currently speaking to the Shannon Foynes Port Company about funding models to make what could be an investment of up to €500 million in the port over the next number of years. That obviously has to go through a planning process first. There is a lot happening here. In my view, the Shannon Estuary will be a cluster of green technology development, powered by clean power coming onshore from both fixed and floating platforms off the west coast that are generating power from wind.

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