It will be next year before a decision is made on the planning application for a liquefied natural gas terminal in North Kerry.
Shannon LNG is seeking permission to build the Shannon Technology and Energy Park, on the Tarbert/Ballylongford landbank.
The project includes an LNG terminal to import, store, and regasify up to 180,000 cubic metres of LNG, and a 600-megawatt power plant.
The development was refused planning permission in 2023, but this refusal was quashed by the High Court, and now another planning application for the development is currently being considered by the national planning body.
An Coimisún Pleanála had set a date of 22nd September to decide on the application, but this has been pushed back further.
The planning body says due to what it calls, the complexity of the issues, it will not be possible to determine the case within this timeframe.
An Coimisiún Pleanála had asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and Environment, Darragh O’Brien, to clarify the government’s policy on private LNG developments.
Government policy towards such developments was cited by the national planning body when refusing permission for the project last time.
An Coimisiún Pleanála also invited the company Shannon LNG to make any further comments it deemed necessary, and it sent back a detailed reply outlining why it felt policy and EU laws favour the granting of permission.
Other interested parties were invited to make submissions on what the Minister and the company had to say, and those submissions were being accepted until the 22nd September.
An Coimisiún Pleanála has now said it intends to decide on this application by 13th January 2026, and it will take all steps it can to ensure the matter is decided by then.
Fine Gael councillor Michael Foley, who’s from Ballylongford, criticised the latest delay; he added An Coimisiún Pleanála had surely already gone through the complexities of the application before, as they had already decided on the same project.
