Éamon Ó Cuív demands action on offshore wind and ports

Minister, I hear about strategies and plans. I do not see the grid being built, I do not see the offshore wind being actually provided. Would you agree we need to shorten the route to market in terms of offshore wind planning, in the actual provision of grid infrastructure, in the development of a ports policy and actually developing the ports, because it is no good having all these policies if we actually do not do the things. that those policies should lead you to, in having a green hydrogen and then producing green hydrogen, in making sure that we invest some of the windfall profits coming from the high-tech corporation tax sector, in Irish ownership of, of course, the grid, but also investment in the offshore industry, so the returns come back to Ireland. in the connectivity to Europe and also to the UK, because we will produce surplus energy that we can sell and make this country welcome. What are you actually going to do to make these things actually happen on the ground? That is all I hear about plans and strategies, but I do not see it happening on the ground. I think, I hope in the coming weeks you will see real change occurring. Can I say the reason I was in Tarbert last week, it was, it was also subsequent to a visit to Shannon Foyne's port and I want to maybe just take that as an example. I could talk about the Scourge of Rocks project in Gunnemara or the plans in Galway, but if I can take the Shannon Estuary just as one example. And I might refer you to, which I think is a very significant report that they have commissioned from Bechtel to look at the potential in the Shannon Estuary. I had a meeting with the Shannon Estuary Economic Task Force and I believe we are all at IDIM with the sense of the opportunity. Huge scale, not without its challenges, not without we have to get the environmental and public support for it, but the potential development there. If you look at the Shannon Estuary with Money Point and Tarbert on either side with fantastic grid connection and sites that are ideally suited for new power generation or new hydrogen, green hydrogen or other infrastructure developments. If you look at Shannon Foyne's port itself, deep water port with an island right beside the port, which could be a place for development for the construction and assembly and formation of these new offshore turbines. Locations in the Estuary where we would look to store them in advance of getting the weather opportunity to go out into the Atlantic. This is real. Thank you. The government is 100% committed to it. We will deliver it. One minute. Two specific questions. One is when will we actually see the wind turbines in the Irish Sea, which is the easiest place to put the offshore at the moment and where there has been most advancement. When will we actually see them turning and producing electricity? Because all these strategies and plans will not produce electricity, but will produce turbines connected to the grid. My second question is, there was a recent report that said that there is only one port in Ireland fit, and that is in Belfast, fit to service this industry. When are we going to get a port policy for the offshore wind industry? And can you tell me, is all the coast relevant to this? And you mentioned, for example, the Skerja, including the coast in the west of Ireland, is it going to be covered in this port policy? We will need further onshore wind and solar and batteries and pump storage and a whole range of other solutions as we transition to this zero carbon and stable and secure and lower cost energy system for our people. The res auction systems will continue. We have done two. The third will come up and learn lessons from the first two. But we will also then be developing in the coming weeks, if not days, we will be setting out the renewable support scheme which we will use for offshore, including the project, the likes of projects and potential projects in Skerja rocks are on the east coast. And that will we have to be up there. We are competing with, as you say, the UK, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, I list as long as your arm of other countries who have similar ambition. So we do need to be quick. The expectation is that direction system, as I said, will start before the end of this year, conclude spring, summer next year, planning system then has to be engaged. The exact timeline that that takes, I suppose, is the key unknown to answer Deputy Keeve's question. But if that was concluded and projects then ready for contracting early or mid 2024, you would see construction and starting in that sort of 25, 26 period. And that it's in that sort of timeframe that we need to deliver. It does take time while we're doing that. There's other projects onshore that we also need to deliver. Thank you. Thank you. $5000.