Dublin Port Company and the Port of Cork Company are set to receive more than €112 million to fund infrastructure projects to develop Ireland’s transport system and enhance the use of offshore wind energy.
The European Union funding from the Connecting Europe Facility for Transport supports the development of the trans-European transport network.
Dublin Port will receive €73.8 million to go towards its MP2 project which focuses on using existing land at the port.
The money will be used to help fund the construction of the berths for roll-on, roll-off cargo, where ships are moored, at the eastern end of the North Port. The development will provide additional capacity for almost a third of the projected increase in traffic at Dublin Port up to 2040.
The Port of Cork will receive €38.4 million from the fund that will be used to build extensions on to two projects, a container berth at Ringaskiddy West and a deepwater berth at Ringaskiddy East.
This investment follows a €94 million container terminal that was opened in Ringaskiddy in September 2022.
Port of Cork interim chief executive Donal Crowley said the Ringaskiddy East project will see a 200m extension to the existing container berth, with works on quay deck construction, quayside utilities, and Onshore Power Supply infrastructure as well.
He said the Ringaskiddy West project will consist of an 182m extension as well as work on quay deck construction and quay utilities.
According to the Port of Cork master plan, its current infrastructure gives the port operational capacity until 2029. However, until the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy road is finished by its planned 2030 date, the port needs to run a dual operation between Tivoli docks and Ringaskiddy East to keep up with capacity.
Once the M28 road is finished, Ringaskiddy East will undergo upgrades to expand operations.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said the project at the Port of Cork has full planning permission and will be able to facilitate the production of offshore energy.
