Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 April 2022
956. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development further to Parliamentary Question No. 6 of 17 February 2022, the status of the development of Caladh Mór on Inis Meáin; the status of the development of the updated simulation by the National Maritime College of Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17797/22]
View answerThe Development of the Caladh Mór Pier on Inis Meáin is included in the National Development Plan. As the Deputy will be aware, Galway County Council are responsible for the development of stage 3 of this project.
As part of the preparatory works, the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) were instructed by Galway County Council to develop a model simulation for the harbour. Galway County Council are collating the technical specifications of the key vessels that use the harbour and this data will be fed into the simulation. It is hoped that the simulation will be completed, and tested with feedback given, by the end of August.
To feed into this process, additional bathymetric studies are also to be carried out in the harbour to gather further data and it is hoped that these will be completed by the end of April. It is important to note that this timeline is dependent on weather and marine conditions.
Once this work has been completed, Galway County Council will incorporate the findings into a draft business case. Following on from this, my Department will be in a position to evaluate the next steps in the process.
