This article is from page 87 of the 2010-02-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 87 JPG
THE Government has revealed that ‘certain EU issues’ are holding up progress for an international logistics transport hub at Shannon Airport.
Last year, the Shannon Airport Au- thority (SAA) and the Lynxs Group signed a Memo of Understanding (MOU) for the purpose of jointly developing a major international lo- gistics hub and business facility at Shannon.
The agreement was seen as a Sig- nificant step towards the delivery of a state-of-the-art international cargo facility on a 200,000 square-feet site at Shannon Airport.
The Shannon-based Atlantic Way organisation believes that the devel- opment of a global freight logistics centre has the potential to create and support over 10,000 new jobs within a five to ten year timeframe.
However, chairman of the Task Force, Denis Brosnan said that in order for the hub to proceed, €7 mil- lion needs to be given to the Shan- non Airport Authority, which has not eleetiw Kee
He said: “The debate has been go- ing on for 12 months or longer, but the money hasn’t appeared.
In the Dail, the Minister for State at the Dept of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Dara Calleary said that the Tanaiste, Mary Coughlan has discussed the Lynxs project with the Minister for Transport, Noel Demp- TAs
He said: “It appears that certain EU issues need to be resolved if progress is to be made. We are addressing them at EU level.”
Minister Calleary said: “The Lynx Cargo Group and the Dublin Airport Authority are now completing an ex- amination of the feasibility of devel- oping a major cargo facility there.”
Fine Gael Limerick East deputy, Kieran O’Donnell said: “During the Dail debate, the minister, Deputy Willie O’ Dea, said that an announce- ment on the Lynx Cargo project was “imminent”. I would like to know how the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, would define “imminent”, as he appears to be suggesting that an announcement is a little further ee Nl
Clare Fine Gael deputy, Joe Carey said: “The potential benefits of de- veloping the Lynx international car- go facility at Shannon are endless. We are now at a critical juncture as rising unemployment and the loss of
inward investment means action is jLeXer (ore EDEN TL ONT
“In order to make this a reality Government must put their shoulder to the wheel and drive this project until it becomes a reality.
Mr Denis Brosnan, Chairman of the Mid West Taskforce has outlined how beneficial this project could be.
“The €7 million investment re-
quired from government would cop- per fasten the deal with Lynx and would be money well spent as it will create and sustain jobs into the fu- ture. Yet there is a total lack of ur- gency shown by government towards this project.”
He added: “There has been enough talk about this project. We now need to see the investment required from
government. The Lynx cargo facil- ity represents a viable way forward for the development of a major inter- national hub at Shannon. Action is needed immediately to make this a reality.”