Speculation is growing that the government’s imminent National Development Plan (NDP ) will include a massive infrastructure upgrade originally designed to attract a €9 billion investment from Intel for the west of Ireland.
Last week, the Sunday Business Post revealed that a €3.2 billion proposal will be brought to cabinet to service state-owned land on the outskirts of Galway city for use as a site to construct state-of-the-art microchip fabrication facilities, including on a former artillery range.
Competing locations in the east and south of the country are also in contention, after Galway previously lost out to Magdeburg, Germany, for a massive, multi-billon Intel investment in 2021.
Land between Oranmore and Claregalway is considered ideal for high-tech manufacturing facilities because it is flat ground above solid geology. This reduces the possibility for seismic vibration detrimental to manufacturing silicon wafers.
The new €3.2 billion figure appears to have been calculated by totalling a number of Galway infrastructure projects hoped to be included in the 10-year NDP.
This includes more than €1bn for east Galway city waste water treatment infrastructure, more than €1bn for regional high voltage electricity connections, and hundreds of millions of Euros for a new motorway interchange, rail link, underground gas pipeline, and for purchasing more land.
The ambitious plan for an area outside Oranmore zoned for business and industry, currently largely owned by the Industrial Development Agency (IDA ) and Department of Defence, was originally aimed at attracting Intel. It was reportedly in talks with infrastructure lender Apollo Global last year to build an $11 billion (€9 billion ) plant in Ireland, after pausing its plans in Germany. However the Biden administration's $53 billion subsidy to keep chip making in America, and Donald Trump's 'US Investment Accelerator' may have halted Intel's international gallop.
Officials tasked with attracting inward investment are now also looking at other multinational chip makers such as Nvidia, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC ), and Nexperia.
Intel announced this week that it may lay-off up to 195 staff at its €17 billion chip-making plant in Leixlip, Co Kildare, where the Californian company employs 4,900 staff. Meanwhile, TSMC opened a $165 billion plant in Arizona recently, but has struggled to recruit a skilled workforce. China’s Nexperia is scouting suitable locations across Europe, according to industry publications.
Speaking to the Galway Advertiser, Galway West TD Noel Grealish, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said developing infrastructure in Galway, especially a ring road and new water treatment plant, was a priority for the Cabinet, and Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
“Yes, the pressure is on him to do something for Galway. My vote is crucial,” said the member of the Regional Independent Group in the Dáil, which supports the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition government.
“I am fully supportive of this proposal, which will bring a different type of industry to Galway, leading to more economic stability and reduced vulnerability to external shocks,” he said, adding that the Galway City Ring Road and an East Galway waste water treatment plant necessary for industry would also ensure “faster construction of housing within the county”.
Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Oranmore native Hildegarde Naughton TD, said she expected proposals to be progressed by the autumn if the necessary infrastructure projects receive allocations in the NDP. It will be signed off by the taoiseach and tánaiste during July.
“This could be a next generation site to future-proof the economy, bringing high value jobs locally. I can’t pre-empt anything, as [government] are going to have negotiations, but there are plans there to expand infrastructure around Galway,” she said, adding that she expects increased funding to be confirmed for the delivery of the ring road, Galway harbour, further rail upgrades, several housing projects on public land in and around Galway city, and the Clifden cycleway.
Land clearance
Naughton’s Fine Gael colleague, enterprise minister Peter Burke, will lay out plans for Oranmore after consulting with Tánaiste and Minister of Defence, Simon Harris, who is ultimately responsible for the 500 acre former artillery range next to the IDA lands. Well-placed sources suggest the IDA may offer to swap land it owns elsewhere for military use, or even repurpose empty factories in Mayo or Roscommon as indoor firing ranges.
Three years ago, the IDA bought more than 100 acres located off the N67 Claregalway Road to add to its original 50 acre holding in Oranmore. It reportedly paid €10m. Sources suggest it is seeking to buy more, and the IDA has been linked to a sale of the nearby 118 acre Galway Airport lands, creating a network of state-owned lands to form an enterprise zone linking Galway with Athenry.
The Department of Defence owns the 500 acre property in Oranmore, part of which is currently used by the Defence Forces for day and night live fire exercises. It was previously used for CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear ) training, explosives, and even hosted mock battles.
In a tweet, Salthill-born Senator Gerard Craughwell, a former soldier, warned that the land would have to be certified as clear of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW ) if it was to be developed as a semiconductor fabrication plant. He warned that companies which provide this service are expensive.
“There are no such companies in Ireland. I bet no-one at [the Department of Enterprise] or [the IDA] have factored that in, or indeed briefed [Peter Burke] on this little problem,” he wrote on X.
Fifteen of the world's top 30 semiconductor supply chain companies already operate in Ireland, and this microelectronics sector employs more than 20,000 people, according to government figures.
