#DublinPort- Expansion in Dublin Port will happen at a faster than expected pace over the next 20 years as population growth boosts volumes passing through the country's main goods gateway, the semi-state company behind the port said.

As the Independent.ie writes, growth however will have to be accommodated without a physical expansion beyond the existing docks - ruling out reclamation or a major move.

In a revised masterplan published yesterday, Dublin Port Company said Ireland's biggest port - now needs to expand based on an assumption of 3.3pc annual growth in volumes between 2010 and 2040. That's higher than the 2.5pc annual growth pencilled in back in 2012.

"The past and projected growth to 2040 is in large part due to the growth in the country's population," the revised masterplan noted.

Dublin Port Company said that the annual volume of goods through the gateway is expected to rise to 77.2 million gross tonnes in 2040, from 2.9 million tonnes in 1950.

The current masterplan was first published in 2012. Since then, two major elements of the plan have got underway. They are the €277m Alexandra Basin Redevelopment scheme and the development in a so-called "inland port" on a 44-hectare site near Dublin Airport.

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