Target of 50,000 news jobs along Shannon Estuary 'is achievable' insists government minister

THE SHANNON Estuary Economic Taskforce (SEET) has the potential to shift the Irish economy more west than ever seen before according to the Minister for Employment Simon Coveney.

The SEET Report was published in July and outlined the potential of the estuary for the creation of a green energy hub involving off-shore and fixed wind turbines.

This could potentially see the creation of 10,000 jobs - largely in Limerick, Clare and Kerry - by 2035 and a total of 50,000 jobs by 2050.

Fine Gael Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney was in Limerick last weekend for the Fine Gael 'think-in' which was held in the Strand Hotel in the city.

“I think we will look back in decades to come at the SEET, its recommendations, the extent of its ambition for this part of Ireland and the Mid-West generally as one of the key moments of change in terms of economic policy in Ireland,” Minister Coveney said.

The Shannon Estuary consists of 500 sq km of sheltered, deep water in an area of Ireland that has port facilities that can be made stronger such as Foynes.

These ports can potentially be used to transport turbines into the estuary once they are manufactured.

“This is a natural and obvious place for us to design an industrial development strategy for the future on the basis of renewables and clean energy,” Minister Coveney said.

“It is also on the doorstep of the Atlantic Ocean which has an infinite wind resource. Some of the most consistent and strongest wind speeds of the world are off the west coast of Ireland.”

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This green energy hub, once up and running could provide power for not just the Mid-West but the entire country.

“We need to decarbonise our economy and our society. We need to reduce emissions, we need to move away from fossil-based fuels and we need to do that in a way that actually creates jobs and employment,” Minister Coveney added.

According to Minister Coveney, it is anticipated that a lot of industries and multinational corporations are likely to cluster in the region where the energy grid is the strongest.

“If you speak to the largest multinationals in the world, many of whom are here in Ireland, they will say to you, that ‘we will invest in the parts of the world that can provide clean, competitively priced energy and power into the future.

“We need to put the infrastructure in place to anticipate that and facilitate that, housing, road, rail infrastructure, broadband infrastructure, energy infrastructure,” he added.

Minister Coveney also said that the potential creation of 50,000 jobs is both ambitious and realistic.

“The population will go where the jobs are. If we are building new industries, if we’re seeing multinationals and indeed Irish companies deciding to locate here because of the strength of the grid infrastructure… That means that it is achievable.”

“If you take a look at our National Spatial Strategy, we’re planning for Limerick as a city to grow significantly in that period and cities like Cork and Limerick don’t grow unless there are jobs to facilitate and pay for that growth,” the minister added.