A GAS terminal on the Shannon estuary, which will involve the construction of four giant gas tanks, each taller than Dublin's Liberty Hall and larger than a football pitch, has been granted permission by An Bord Pleanála.
The liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant is the second development to receive "fast-track" planning permission under the Strategic Infrastructure Act, which came into force last year.
However, unlike the first - a Dublin-Meath rail line - developers Shannon LNG, a subsidiary of the giant US-based Hess Corporation, will have to pay An Bord Pleanála €164,124, the highest fee to date for a planning application.
The board only determined the fees for strategic infrastructure developments last December; the small number of applications that were received before December 10th last were exempt from any fee.
The new fee structure requires applicants to lodge €100,000 when making an application. Once a decision is made, the board then determines the administrative costs it has incurred, such as its inspector's time, the hiring of a venue for an oral hearing etc and adjusts this figure.
In this case, an eight-day hearing took place last February and the fee was readjusted to €164,124. Shannon LNG must also pay costs of €43,076 to Kerry County Council and costs of €2,876 to Kilcolgan Residents Association, in addition to an annual community gain contribution of €200,000.
Forty conditions have been attached to the planning permission, chief among them being the stipulation that gas cannot leave the site by road, but must be piped directly into the national grid.
This means the developers will have to seek additional planning permission to run a pipeline from the estuary to the national grid at Foynes, 25km away.
It is not yet known whether this development will qualify for fast-track planning, allowing Shannon LNG to apply directly to the board for permission, or if it will have to apply to Kerry County Council, which could delay the project by several years.
Shannon LNG must also secure a licence from the Environmental Protection Agency before it can begin operations.
Gas will be brought to the site by sea rather than road; in addition to the construction of the four storage tanks, a 350m jetty will be built out into the estuary to allow the gas to be delivered by 125 gas tanker ships each year.
The plant is the first of its kind in Ireland, although similar plants have been built in other European countries. It will have the capacity to supply up to 60 per cent of Ireland's natural gas demands. The plant will provide about 500 jobs during the construction phase and 50 permanent jobs.
The board said it was granting permission on the basis that the development was in accordance with the National Development Plan objective to ensure the security of gas supplies. It also took into account the proximity of the site to the national grid.
More than 60 objections to the project had been lodged with the board. John McElligott, spokesman for the Kilcolgan Residents Association, said the application for the plant should not have been considered separately to the necessary pipeline.
"As in Mayo, permission for a terminal is being decided upon without any decision on the pipeline that it needs," Mr McElligott said. "This does not represent integrated decision-making."