Over to you: Government commit €130 million to Ferrybank’s North Quays Development putting ball in developers court

The Government has put the ball of the North Quays Development project in Ferrybank firmly back in the court of the Saudi Arabian developers after committing over €100 million in state funding to get the project rolling.

While campaigning in Waterford yesterday, Tánaiste Simon Coveney said the North Quays Development “needs both funding and policy certainty from the state” and “I am glad to give both of those certainties today.”

A commitment of €100 million of government funding, plus a further €30million for infrastructure from Waterford City and County Council and private investment comes on the eve of a contractual deadline between the developers Falcon Real Estate Developments and the local authority, in which a capital commitment from the council and state was required to proceed the project.

Standing on the North Quays Development site in Ferrybank, alongside Environment Minister Richard Bruton, the Tánaiste made the most robust commitment to the €500 million North Quays Project so far.

“This city has a very exciting project on the North Quays,” An Tánaiste said. “The government is going to invest over €100 million in that, the local authority and local private investment will add a further €30 million to that in terms of infrastructure.

“This will in turn facilitate an investment of about €350 million of retail, hotel space, of new modern office accommodation to create a real new heart to Waterford which will be based in commerce and affordable residential accommodation.

“This is a plan that has been in gestation for quite some time now and is a plan that has been a part of our Project 2040 plan. We are in the planning process which will conclude soon.

“It needs both needs both funding and policy certainty from the state to make sure it becomes a reality, and I am glad to give both of those certainties today.

“It is such a strategic part of our national plan to develop this city over the next 20 years,” the Tánaiste concluded.