Port company seeks public input on expansion plans

THE Dublin Port Company has launched a comprehensive public consultation process aimed at devising a “masterplan” for its expansion and development over the next 30 years.

In that time, the company claims that — even based on the most conservative estimates — it will need to double its capacity in order to handle 60 million tonnes of cargo per year and that “vital national infrastructure” is necessary to ensure the future competitiveness and economic growth of the country’s main port.

Already, Dublin Port accounts for the transportation of more than half of all goods imported into Ireland every year and is approaching capacity constraints. No additional land capacity has been added to the Port in the past 30 years, in which time the volume of goods travelling through it has quadrupled.

“We now handle €35bn, per annum, in trade going in and out of the Port and will easily double our volumes again by 2040. We need to grow, in a way which better integrates the Port with the city and which contributes substantially to improve both the natural and built environments. However, how we do all of this needs to be tempered and modulated by the needs of the city and its citizens,” said Dublin Port Company chief executive, Eamonn O’Reilly.

All relevant stakeholders — planners, the city’s citizens, State bodies, business groups, local councils, importers — are being invited to submit their ideas through public meetings and information days. The whole public consultation process will run up until the end of May.

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said that a new plan for Dublin Port is “vital to ensure the smooth and efficient running of the economy” and will play an important role in building national competitiveness and securing overseas investment.

“Port master-planning is being addressed in the Ports Policy Review, which is currently underway.”