'Considerable' cost of license to delay dredging works at Waterford harbour

Applying for the licenses to carry out works to improve access to Helvick Pier will cost around €250,000.

That is according to Senior Engineer Gabriel Hynes, at the February meeting of the Dungarvan-Lismore District Council.

Mr Hynes said in response to the query by Councillor Thomas Phelan: “There is considerable cost in just getting the statutory process complete. I suppose over the last seven or eight years constraints in relation to dredging has changed so it is no longer possible to go out a dredge without the necessary consents, so it may take three or four years to get now."

Cllr Phelan asked that the council apply to the new minister who “may be more amenable” than the last. 

Mr Hynes responded: “If it opens up for us to apply for funding, we certainly will. We have in the past applied each year unsuccessfully for €250k to undertake the necessary licenses."

The engineer told councillors at the meeting that the work required a foreshore license to remove dredging material.

“So without a grant to go through the statutory process, we are not in a position to proceed with any dredging works,” said Mr Hynes. 

As of July 2023, The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is no longer responsible for foreshore applications. All applications now go to the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority.