Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 April 2024
150. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Transport for an update on the approximately €230 million infrastructural investment at Dublin Port to accommodate larger sea-going vessels and to increase capacity, as outlined in the National Development Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18539/24]
View answerDublin Port is progressing implementation of its Masterplan in order to ensure that the Port can provide for future sustainable growth and changes in facilitating seaborne trade in goods and passenger movements to and from Ireland and the Dublin region in particular. Works include the redevelopment of existing berths, creation of new berths, deepening of the port’s navigable channel from 7.8m to 10m draught, upgrading of the road network, provision of unified state services facilities for control and inspections and improvements in utility infrastructure.
Approximately 25% of the overall project has been completed to date, with considerable work completed on the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR) which is the first of three Strategic Infrastructure Developments projects. The project includes the deepening and extension of existing quay walls in Alexandra Basin, the provision of a new 270m long Roll-on Roll-off (RoRo) vehicle trade jetty together with two new RoRo berths within the inner basin, infill of existing Berths 52/53, and the dredging of the Liffey fairway channel to a depth of 10m below Chart Datum. The final main civil engineering element of the project, the new quay walls at Alexandra Quay West, are currently under construction. This work was part funded by Connecting Europe Facility along with finance from the European Investment Bank.
Terminal 4 (T4) is one of the first ABR projects to be completed and provides capacity for handling European and UK unaccompanied RoRo freight units. The opening of the first phase of T4 has allowed the Port to move some of its business to the new terminal and facilitates ongoing development works associated with the ABR Project, and the commencement of works on the MP2 Project. The opening of the first phase of T4 marks a major milestone in the project, as the fully completed terminal will have a capacity of 462,000 RoRo units, serving the RoRo berths created as part of the ABR Project.
The MasterPlan 2 (MP2) Project is the second major capital development project from Dublin Port’s Masterplan 2040. Between the ABR Project and the MP2 Project, Dublin Port Company has now secured all of the planning permissions required for the major development works planned on the northern side of the port. The first main phase of the MP2 Project will commence in 2024, the construction of new Berth 53 and the eastern half of new Berth 52 at the eastern end of the North Port. This project will be followed by the completion of the western half of new Berth 52, so allowing the infill of a substantial basin area of circa 5.7 hectares to create additional cargo handling area. The new Berths 52 & 53 will be able to handle the largest in class RoRo vessels of up to 240m in length, and will have double-tier linkspans, so increasing the Port’s operational resiliency. Various enabling works, both land side and marine side, have been undertaken in 2022 and 2023 to allow the commencement of this first main project phase in 2024.
The company is also progressing the third and final Masterplan project, the 3FM project, with the commencement of the pre-planning stage and in particular the preparation of the detailed project design and the environmental impact reports. It is expected that the company will be lodging a planning application with An Bórd Pleanála in mid-2024.
