Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Before he goes, I thank, the chair of the joint committee, Deputy Quinlivan, the clerk, the secretariat and all the members for this comprehensive and forward-thinking report.

The report set out recommendations on diverse, but connected, topics. For instance, it recommends: planning and consideration of sites for offshore renewable energy, a more integrated approach to delivering it and the research on supports needed to nurture and build this new industry for Ireland; further exploration of the opportunity for fixed and floating offshore wind to play a part in Ireland's green energy future; and the provision of resources for public data collection to underpin the development of an offshore wind industry in Ireland.

The report highlights the need for active education, training and recruitment initiatives to increase the supply of essential skills for this sector, and greater focus on exploring and enhancing the potential for domestic job growth. It recommends empowerment of and reward for coastal communities for hosting wind energy. The report also suggests the development of an offshore delivery task force to create and support an action plan.

I am pleased to say that the intent of these recommendations is well reflected in cross-Government collaboration and action on offshore renewable energy. We are on a clear path to achieving our offshore renewable energy targets by way of a plan-led approach to development and we are determined to ensure that, in reaching these targets, Ireland will capture the full economic opportunity arising from our offshore ambitions. This sense of determination is reflected in the publication by my Department in March of this year of Powering Prosperity - Ireland's Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy. I pay tribute to the former Minister, Deputy Coveney, for his leadership on this issue.

The committee may also be aware that the programme for Government and the White Paper on Enterprise both have a focuses on the twin green and digital transition. The White Paper, published in December 2022, identifies offshore wind as a key opportunity for Ireland.

The Department of the Environment, Climate, and Communications' Policy Statement on the Framework for Phase Two Offshore Wind, published in March 2023, sets out a plan-led approach to meet Ireland's offshore wind ambitions. As part of this, it includes a commitment to work with industry to develop an industrial strategy.

To build on those foundational documents, and considering the recommendations in the joint committee's report, a memorandum to Government proposing the development of an industrial strategy for offshore wind was brought forward on 9 May 2023. Powering Prosperity was developed in line with that decision. Within weeks of that decision, the new offshore wind strategy unit in our Department was created, and work commenced on the stakeholder engagement and fact-finding phase of the new industrial strategy, which concluded in November 2023. Powering Prosperity was approved by Government on 5 March and published on 8 March.

The vision at the core of Powering Prosperity is, by the end of this decade, to build a successful, vibrant, and impactful offshore wind industry, and, crucially, to ensure that the industry creates value for the people of Ireland. To implement this vision, the strategy targets four core areas: supply chain, both domestic and international; research, development and innovation; future demand and end uses for renewable energy; and balanced regional economic development.

Powering Prosperity also clearly sets out ten ambitions that Ireland will aim to achieve by 2030.

The first ambition is to develop an innovative enterprise ecosystem with indigenous and multinational companies that will provide world-leading service to the offshore wind sector. The second ambition is to dramatically scale up the enterprise base that will service the offshore wind sectors in Ireland and around the world. The third ambition is to deliver up to 5,000 jobs in the offshore wind and related industries. The fourth ambition is to maximise opportunities for companies and investors to develop a vibrant and successful supply chain. The fifth ambition is to proactively assist enterprise, workers and the research, development and innovation ecosystem in availing of these opportunities through targeted funding and supports. The sixth ambition is to establish an offshore wind centre of excellence and a new floating offshore wind demonstrator to support growth and innovation. The seventh ambition is to pursue strategic partnerships with like-minded countries in Europe and beyond. The eighth ambition is to work with stakeholders to develop world-class property solutions powered by renewable energy. The ninth ambition is to develop, in collaboration with other Departments, major industrial hubs around key deployment and operations and maintenance ports. The tenth and final ambition is to transform Ireland's regional capability and deliver opportunity for the people of Ireland, throughout Ireland, by developing industrial hubs and balanced regional economic growth.

These ambitions are supported by 40 actions for implementation in 2024 and 2025 and I emphasise five crucial actions already under way. The first is the establishment of an offshore wind centre of excellence. This will be a physical centre that bring together offshore wind supply chain companies, including many SMEs, Government agencies and further and higher education institutions. It will enable them to access, adopt and accelerate new technologies including, for example, floating offshore wind and digital. This will allow Ireland to solve real-world challenges involved in delivering our offshore wind projects and facilitate the collaboration needed to drive the sector’s future competitiveness. Early scoping work is already under way on the centre.

The second action involves us exploring the concept of green energy industrial parks. Meeting our offshore renewable energy targets of at least 37 GW by 2050 presents a huge opportunity to locate large new industries of the future outside Dublin, in coastal communities close to where renewable power comes onshore. These new parks could attract significant new foreign direct investment. They could create jobs and prosperity by co-locating the infrastructure required to produce renewable energy with the new industries which will use it. Officials from my Department are already collaborating with IDA Ireland and other cross-government stakeholders to scope and progress this action.

The third action is driving scale in the offshore wind supply chain. We already have excellent Irish companies working on offshore wind in Ireland. This action will see agencies such as Enterprise Ireland providing one-to-one assistance to new and existing companies to help them grow and prosper. We want our companies to play a significant role in the offshore renewable supply chain both at home and abroad, and they will. Many of these companies were featured as case studies in the Powering Prosperity document. XOCEAN of Louth is completing survey and data collection work as far afield as the USA and Australia using its incredibly innovative autonomous vessels. I had the pleasure of visiting the company last year. Exceedence Limited was successfully spun out of University College Cork’s environmental research institute, produces innovative software to simplify the process of planning, building and running a large offshore wind farm. Subsea Micropiles of Dublin is pioneering new high-performance seabed foundations and anchors to make offshore wind turbines more secure and reliable. Enterprise Ireland has already made an excellent start on this crucial supply chain development action by bringing together over 100 companies in its Gael Offshore Network. That membership is growing every month.

The fourth key action in Powering Prosperity is a memorandum of understanding between EirGrid, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. This will provide a framework for strategic co-operation between parties involved in offshore wind development. It will create more awareness and understanding among Irish-based SMEs of large-scale grid infrastructure contracts to support offshore renewable energy. The memorandum of understanding will be finalised by the end of June.

The fifth and final action involves building on international strategic partnerships which will assess and shape industrial policy for offshore renewable energy. We have been pleasantly surprised by the open and collaborative nature of discussions with stakeholders in other countries. At a meeting in Dublin on 12 September the nine member countries of the North Seas Energy Cooperation group, namely, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, agreed to reach at least 260 GW of offshore wind energy by 2050. That is seven times our own ambitious 2050 target of 37 GW. Put simply, building 260 GW of new capacity means there should be enough economic value to be captured by every country, including Ireland, which collaborates on the supply chain. A notable first step in deepening international partnerships will be an annual joint event between Ireland and Scotland to promote bilateral opportunities in offshore wind. The first edition is expected to take place in June between Dublin and Cork and will be attended by government ministers, senior officials, and companies from both countries.

Powering Prosperity is the result of a strong collaboration between the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. Both agencies have also provided officials with industry contacts who were extremely generous with their observations and technical input. Our officials collaborated intensively with other Government Departments and agencies, especially via the offshore wind delivery task force chaired by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Ryan. The actions of Powering Prosperity effectively function as the actions for workstream 7 of that task force, which is dedicated to realising a successful supply chain. I highlight the sustained and important work of the task force thank the Department's colleagues across government for their continued collaboration. I also thank the many industry professionals who have given us their time, feedback and expertise in developing Powering Prosperity, especially the members of the Department’s offshore wind industry forum, a group of experts from industry and our enterprise agencies which is guiding us as we implement our 40 actions. Overall, the reception of Powering Prosperity has been very positive. Wind Energy Ireland, for example, warmly welcomed the strategy and committed to working with our Department "to ensure the benefits from our offshore wind revolution stay in Ireland".

The implementation of Powering Prosperity is proceeding, with an ambitious programme of work already under way for 2024 and planned for 2025. My Department and its agencies will continue to collaborate with colleagues across government and with industry and other national and international stakeholders to achieve our vision, including the Oireachtas joint committee. We will drive implementation by reporting to the offshore wind delivery task force and working closely with the offshore wind industry forum. We will publish periodic progress reports on this first iteration of Powering Prosperity, commencing in 2025.

I will conclude at this point. I again thank the committee, including the clerk and secretariat, for its work and for presenting its paper on the considerable industrial opportunity represented by delivering a successful and vibrant offshore wind industry for Ireland.

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