*Shannon Estuary.
ENGAGEMENT is ongoing between Clare County Council and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to identify green skills opportunities and react to Clare’s housing need based on the scale of development envisaged from the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce.
Recommendations for the delivery of up to 30GW of offshore floating wind is set out in the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce report. The report sets out a vision for the Shannon Estuary to become Ireland’s Atlantic Green digital corridor with proposed new initiatives in the transport, logistics, connectivity and tourism sectors.
At Monday’s meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr Cillian Murphy asked the local authority to undertake an assessment of the specific opportunities the report presents to the people of Clare, “the skills involved and numbers of personnel that may be required in its implementation here in Clare, an assessment of the housing need within the proximate Municipal Districts to support that implementation and an assessment of the quantity of zoned land in those Municipal Districts to determine whether we have capacity to ensure these opportunities provide the maximum benefits at the most local level”.
Director of Services for Economic Development, Carmel Kirby in a comprehensive reply stated “the potential economic and social impacts need to be a key consideration for each of the stakeholders involved in the development of the report including Clare County Council. These key considerations will be front and centre in informing our policy documents and strategies for years to come”. She assured councillors that the Council Executive was “working to ensure that not only the Shannon Estuary but all of the Mid-West region will benefit from this new and constantly evolving sector and is ready to react to opportunities presented”.
Clare County Council is a partner on the Mid-West Renewables Education and Training Cluster which is collaborating with the key education providers to try develop educaton pathways in this sector. “The scale of the skills involved and the personnel numbers needed far surpasses what can be provided within the county,” she said.
A shortage of “offshore health and safety expertise” has been flagged a report by Green Tech and Skillnet Ireland from January looking at Ireland’s offshore wind skills and talent needs. “This report comprehensively outlines the profiles of 42 offshore wind jobs covering the full lifecycle of an offshore wind farm and the varying type of role, employer, education and training needs required”. The job profiles are due to be released this month.
Kirby maintained that the proposal to develop the Kilrush Maritime Training Centre “is an example of the foresight of the executive in realising the opportunities that exist in education and certification for those who will be seeking employment on or near the sea. Initiatives such as this demonstrate the executive’s commitment to exploring and developing initiatives across the county in the coming years to ensure that we are ready to take advantage of opportunities arising”.
There is a commitment among the Council Executive to continue to explore opportunities with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science “to identifying green skills opportunities and to examine and react to identified housing needs across the county,” she said.
Next year, the Council’s planning department will prepare a two-year progress report on the Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029 “which will give a clear indication around delivery of economic opportunities, housing demand and delivery across the county”. The review of the National Planning Framework will be a key factor in determining the quantum of zoned land for both enterprise and residential development in the next County Development Plan, she said. “It is critical that Clare County Council would continue to position Co Clare as a leader in the offshore wind sector when engaging in the preparation of these and other policy documents,” Kirby concluded.
Speaking on Monday, Cllr Murphy commented, “there is a huge amount of opportunity coming down the Shannon Estuary”. He added, “We’re not just talking about economic impact, there is only so many jobs, at the end of the day when these people come out the gate that they don’t turn right and head for Ennis”.
Kilkee’s Murphy continued, “It is a critical part of the journey of Clare County Council, it is going to deliver opportunities which we can’t quantify, if someone in Moneypoint ten years before it opened said build 1000 homes for all these people so they have somewhere to live then West Clare would be a very different place”.
Seconding the proposal, Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) remarked, “It tells us there is a future to develop in this country. We could grow existing economy on a basis of affordable and carbon energy”.
Support was voiced by Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) who complimented the ongoing work of Director Kirby.
Similar praise was echoed by Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) who said the Director was “doing great work behind the scenes”. He stated, “when the opportunity arises the Director is looking to see how it can apply”.
Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG) commended Cllr Murphy for tabling the motion.
