Infrastructure

There is one passenger Railway Station in the County in Castleconnell, with a comprehensive service to major towns and cities available from Limerick City.

There are rail links to Limerick City, Limerick Junction (Co. Tipperary) and Charleville (Co. Cork).

Bus Éireann provide an extensive service to cities and towns outside Limerick; in addition the Rural Transport Initiative provides up to 20 local services from villages and rural areas.

There were 150 hackneys and 198 large public service vehicles in County Limerick in 2003.

Shannon Airport is located approx. 20km from Limerick County and provides Transatlantic, European and Domestic flights. Passenger numbers exceeded 2,4 million in 2003.

County Limerick has a deep water cargo port in Foynes, which is primarily used for the importation of goods. Almost 1,3 million tons have been imported through Foynes Port.

The total number of houses in County Limerick in 2003 was 38,378.

By 2002, 56% of households in County Limerick were served by public water schemes, an increase of 7% from 1991.

Under Limerick County Council’s Assessment of Needs program for water and sewerage schemes 2003-2005, 33 schemes were identified as being in need of upgrading or new facilities and a further 24 schemes were identified as priorities in the County for the period 2007 to 2012.

There are 82 sessional services and 33 full day care services being offered in County Limerick. Since 2001 there has been an increase in the number of childcare places available from 1,202 to 1,627 with 1,158 sessional places and 469 full day places now available. However there remains to be lack of childcare provision in rural areas of the county.

The telecommunications capacity of Limerick City and Environs is not up to standard when compared to the East Coast of Ireland, while the West and South of the County are connected to lower and insufficient capacity of Broadband access.

But a 44km fibre optic cable is being laid around Limerick City and its environs, which will lead to easier access to the Internet and other telecommunications services locally.