A report on the potential development of the Shannon Estuary will be published next year.
The regional jobs taskforce, which was first mooted last year, will examine ways to develop the economic potential of the estuary across Kerry, Limerick and Clare.
Last year, following the rejection of the Shannon LNG project in the Programme for Government, it was announced a taskforce to create employment in North Kerry would be established in early 2021.During the summer, it had been hoped the taskforce would be established in the following weeks.
In recent days, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment replied to a query from Fine Gael councillor Michael Foley, who had sought an update on the taskforce's timeline. The department says the taskforce, which is yet to be established, will hold a number of meetings to inform its work.
Officials have hosted two inter-departmental meetings with various government departments, and state agencies. The department says it's envisaged that the work of the taskforce will be finalised in the first half of 2022.
Councillor Michael Foley says that, while the creation of a taskforce is a positive development, it's secondary to the development of a Shannon LNG terminal on the Tarbert-Ballylongford landbank.
