Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 September 2020
120. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the proposed deepwater quay at Ros a' Mhíl harbour, Connemara, County Galway, will be included as part of capital expenditure in the forthcoming stimulus plan. [15978/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department owns, operates and maintains six designated State-owned Fishery Harbour Centres (FHC), located at Castletownbere, Dingle, Dunmore East, Howth, Killybegs and Ros An Mhíl under statute.
Funding is made available on an annual basis by my Department to the Fishery Harbour Centres, including Ros an Mhíl, via the Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme. A phased programme for the infrastructural development of Ros an Mhíl FHC has been progressed over the last number of years. In total, approximately €31m has been invested in capital developments at Ros an Mhíl FHC between 2000 and 2019. In addition, in excess of €1.5m has been allocated for capital works in the harbour in 2020.
The possibility of a deep-water berthing project at Ros an Mhíl FHC has been mooted for some time. The Department commissioned DKM consultants to conduct a Cost Benefit Analysis into the development of a deep water quay at Ros an Mhíl. A draft report was submitted to the Department in June 2017. Since the report was drafted, there have been changes to some of the fundamentals underpinning the original analysis.
In 2018, the Department subsequently commissioned engineering consultants to undertake a review of the design solutions, scoping options and operational aspects of a possible future project. An interim draft of the Quay Wall Peer Review Report was received in April 2019. This report identified the need for additional site investigations to be carried out in Ros an Mhíl.
These site investigation works were carried out in August/September 2019 and have now been completed. The final Quay Wall Peer Review report was received on the 27th July 2020 and a further update was issued on the 4th of Sept 2020. The Department will now consider this report including the site investigation results to inform a future assessment of possible design solutions and scoping options, which will, in themselves, inform any future decision on progressing this project.
While planning permission is in existence, a detailed design may have to be undertaken along with a comprehensive costing exercise and a potential further Cost Benefit Analysis before any decision is made to progress this project. As a consequence, it was not possible to include this project in the July stimulus package and, as is the case with all developments in the six Fishery Harbour Centres generally, any future decision with regard to formally initiating this project in Ros an Mhíl will only be considered on the basis of available exchequer funding and competing national priorities.
