Cork and Dublin ports will receive multi-million euro grants in EU funding for sustainable, safe and smart transport infrastructure. The grants come from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) which is the EU’s programme for strategic investment in infrastructure.

The European Commission has announced that it has selected 134 transport projects to receive over €7bn in EU grants and this represents the largest call under the current CEF Transport programme.

Ireland will receive EUR 157.5m in funding for 5 projects, 2 of them at the Cork and Dublin ports are national, and the other 3 are multi-country EU projects with the participation of an Irish national entity.

Dublin Port’s grant is for EUR €73.8m for the construction of basic port infrastructure to address the expected growth in Ro-Ro freight traffic. The project involves the construction of two inter-dependent berths (Berth 52 and Berth 53), double-tier linkspans, and the installation of a shore-side electricity supply. The main benefit of the project will be increased efficiency of Ro-Ro operations.

Port of Cork gets EUR €38.4m for phase 2 of the Ringaskiddy Port Redevelopment. The project concerns the construction of basic port infrastructure at the port of Cork to move port operations away from their current location in the city centre. The main benefit of the project will be increased efficiency of operations in the port of Cork.

In total, around 20 maritime ports in Ireland, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Malta, Lithuania, Cyprus, Croatia, Greece, and Poland receive support for infrastructure upgrades, some of which will enable them to supply shore-side electricity to ships, or transport renewable energy.

Around 83% of the funding supports projects that deliver on the EU’s climate objectives, improving and modernising the EU network of railways, inland waterways and maritime routes along the Trans-European Transport Network.