The Department of Food, Agriculture and the Marine wants to dump 200,000 tonnes of dredge material off the coast of Dingle in order to build a new craft harbour.
The Department has applied to the Environmental Protection Agency for a permit to dump the dredge material.
The application made by the Department refers to the disposal of 200,000 tonnes in wet weight, of clean silty and sandy dredged material.
This material would come from an area outside the west breakwater in a single dredge campaign.
The Department says the existing bed levels are above the levels required for safe operations, and it proposes to carry out dredging to bring the bed levels down to safe levels for use.
It says that the dumping of dredged material will only include sediments suitable for disposal at sea, meaning that they will be uncontaminated, and no biological effects will be likely.
The Department estimates dredging will take between 10-15 weeks to complete, at some point between January of next year and December 2025.
It proposes to dump the material at a location 1.35km from Dingle Lighthouse, in order to construct a new small craft harbour.
The application and relevant documents can be viewed online at epa.ie, or at the Harbour Master’s Office at the Fishery Harbour Centre in An Daingean.
Anyone who wants to make a submission or observation on the application can do so in writing until August 20th.
Submissions or observations should be sent to Environmental Licensing Programme, Office fo Environmental Sustainability, PO Box 3000, Johnstown Castle Estate, Co. Wexford.
