Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
2200. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development further to Parliamentary Question No. 7 of 31 June 2022, the status of the development of Caladh Mór on Inis Meáin; the status of the bathymetric survey and if it has been completed to-date; the status of the preparation of the draft business case; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41599/22]
View answerThe Development of Caladh Mór Pier on Inis Meáin is included in the National Development Plan. As the Deputy will be aware, Galway County Council is responsible for the development of stage 3 of this project.
As part of the preparatory works, the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) was instructed by Galway County Council to develop a model simulation for the harbour. Galway County Council has collated the technical specifications of the key vessels that use the harbour and this data will be fed into the simulation.
To feed into this process, additional bathymetric studies were also carried out in the harbour to gather further data. This was a multi-beam mapping survey, which is highly detailed.
Galway County Council advised my Department at a meeting between officials recently that the bathymetric survey has been completed and that the data has been forwarded to the NMCI for use in the model simulation. It is hoped that the simulation will be completed, and tested with feedback given, by the end of August.
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.
