Red-tape stalls €12m Foynes plan

A €12m development of Foynes Port, announced yesterday, will have to be put on hold for more than two years while the port authority awaits the necessary foreshore licence from a government department.

Planning permission for the development has been granted by Limerick County Council, and MEP Seán Kelly said yesterday it was totally unacceptable that the project, which will provide 150 jobs, has to be delayed more than two years due to bureaucracy.

“All the planning process has been completed, but work cannot begin, because the Department (of the Environment) hasn’t issued a necessary foreshore licence. Unlike the planning process, there is no timeline with the issuing of foreshore licences and it can take up to two years to get it,” Mr Kelly said.

Super tanker trade has the potential to generate more than 3,000 jobs on the Shannon Estuary, according to Shannon Foynes Port Company (SFPC).

Shipping companies are upgrading their fleets to capitalise on the Panama Canal being able to cater for ships of 80,000 tonnes.

The SFPC, though Foynes port, Limerick docks and four other shipping facilities in the Shannon Estuary, handles trade worth in excess of €6bn per year.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said: “The SFPC port facilities are of national importance and this is reflected in the fact that 37% of Ireland’s bulk traffic now transits the Shannon Estuary. In 2012 SFPC handled over 10m tonnes of cargo, an increase of 10% on 2010.

“The general trend over the past couple of decades in maritime transport has been for larger vessels and vessels that need deep water.

“With the changes in the Panama Canal we expect the trend to continue and also with the growing Chinese dominance in shipping we expect that trend to continue. And that’s where there is a real advantage for the Shannon Estuary and the fact that it can be equipped to take these big ships.”

SFPC chairman Michael Collins said: “We should be talking, optimistically, of a couple of thousand jobs. Conservatively 2,000 to 3,000 direct jobs and a greater number of indirect jobs. And our challenge, working with the other agencies, is to make sure that we promote and we win this (business), because other coastlines are being successful.”

He said Shannon Estuary had unique deep water facilities but inward investment had been neglected.