Ireland increases investment in public marine infrastructure

Authorities & Government

December 30, 2022, by Zlatan Hrvacevic

Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue recently announced the approval of the second tranche of the Brexit Adjustment: Local Authority Marine Infrastructure Scheme (BALAMI) 2022 – 2023, bringing total funding for the Scheme to €55.3 million for 164 projects around the Irish coast.

As reported, Minister McConalogue approved funding for 54 new projects; provided additional funding for 19 previously approved projects which had requested additional funding in light of cost increases, and raised the rate of funding provided for all projects to 95%.

Additional funding for the Greencastle breakwater project of €4.6 million was announced in September this year, with almost €32 million funding announced in April 2022, the new funding announced in December is over €18.9 million.

The Scheme, which provides funding to local authorities to revitalise Ireland’s public marine infrastructure, is proposed for funding under the EU Brexit Adjustment Reserve.

Conferring the approval for the funding of the projects, the Minister commented: “This second call returned an equally impressive number of applications. I now ask the local authorities to prioritise delivery on all projects so that this important economic stimulus can be delivered. The BAR funding is only available until the end of 2023 and this is a unique opportunity to reinvigorate our public marine infrastructure.”

Included in the funding are nine key dredging projects that are central to the fishing and tourism industry in the county. In total, these projects will receive over €7 million through the BALAMI Scheme, with approx. one third of this funding allocated for the Fenit dredging works.

Some of the projects to benefit from this boost include: