Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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95. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will discuss the engagements his Department has had with the offshore wind sector; the potential for offshore wind that has been identified, particularly in Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28009/22]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister and I have spoken before about the enormous potential of Cork Harbour not only in employment terms but also in respect of the significant reduction in emissions because the offshore wind proposals in the long term can power homes for hundreds of thousands of people. In the first instance, there are issues to ensure that we get the benefit of this in regard to employment because there are skills shortages. What is the Department doing in conjunction with, for example, Skillnet Ireland and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to ensure that the shortages that exist in engineering and various other occupations can be filled in order that we can get the employment benefit from offshore wind in Cork?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The key measure for the development of offshore wind will be the acceleration task force that I mentioned in reply to the previous question. We have four or five key tasks to do in offshore renewables. We have to give the consent now for the first phase of the offshore wind projects, get them through planning - some of them will get through and others will not - and get them under contract in order to start construction. The first phase will be mainly on the east coast. When we start phase 2, we will need to get the consenting done in the next two and a half to three years. That phase will be moving south and west, together with further projects on the east coast. In response to this issue, we need to work out a hydrogen strategy in order that we can connect with what happens when energy is brought ashore. We must also look at how we store and share information.

We must also get to phase 3 of the offshore development. This will be the enduring regime - the really big project with an enormous scale of power. As I said earlier, it is deepwater ports like Cork, Shannon and a number of others where we will have the biggest and best opportunities in this regard. This will be State-led and cannot be a Klondike-type regime where everyone runs out, stakes their claim and says "This is my patch and I will decide how it is developed".

EirGrid will have a critical role in designing how we bring this energy ashore and how we ship it, share it and use it. We have to develop our ports such as Cork and elsewhere to facilitate the deployment of these first turbines.

We must also look at the grid, in particular in Dublin city, where there is a significant grid development. We need to bring the power ashore but we also need to heat our homes with heat pumps and power our cars by alternative means.

What we need to do, therefore, is look at the grid, our ports and the first three phases. The project acceleration team is critical because it will bring in different Departments and Government agencies, including the Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, because they have a critical role in ensuring that we match the deployment of the power with job opportunities, and that we also have the people to power it into the future.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I have previously put on record my view that Cork can be a world leader in this area because of the depth of the harbour and the potential for bigger projects, including floating offshore wind projects, to be located there.

The Minister spoke earlier about resourcing of An Bord Pleanála, the CRU and EirGrid. The Maritime Area Regulatory Authority is going to be vitally important in ensuring that we get the benefits in this regard. Does the Minister have a clear plan as to how these bodies are going to be adequately resourced, the number of staff they will need and for how long?

I recently attended at a wind energy conference, Our Offshore Renewable Energy Opportunity – Is Ireland Ready?, at the National Maritime College of Ireland in Cork. One of the points raised was that the seafood working group had not yet been convened. That was in February. Can the Minister indicate whether that working group has been convened, particularly as we need to avoid conflicts with those who are already using the sea in those areas?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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My understanding is that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage recently announced the appointment of Captain Robert McCabe as chairperson of the seafood offshore renewable energy working group. This group will dovetail with this acceleration task force so, yes, it is starting its work.

The scale and the speed required are beyond compare. In the context of these deployment ports, Cork has a real potential advantage because it has deepwater berths where one needs at least a 10 m quayside and the quay needs to be able to hold a 1,500 tonne piece of metal or concrete, if it is floating facility. These must be delivered in the Port of Cork and elsewhere in the next three years in order that the construction at sea can start in 2026 or 2027. We must get these projects through planning and get investment in, all of which must be done while we are engaging in the auction process. I am confident that we will do it. Every other north-west European country is doing the same thing at massive scale.

One of the things I was discussing with the European Commissioner this morning is how we co-ordinate with other European countries and the UK in order that this massive expansion in cabling, shipping, steel and electrolysers can be delivered in a co-ordinated way. That is key.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister. I ask him again if there is a plan for the resourcing of those key bodies. How clear a signal can the Minister give to those who are planning offshore floating wind projects about the timeline for and scale of the auction? Those details are not in place as yet. Those involved need a clear signal.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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This phase will not include offshore floating wind projects, but phase 2 and phase 3 certainly will. As we go into the western waters, where it becomes deep very suddenly, these facilities will have to be floating in order for them to work. Close to shore, there is not as much depth. There is real development-----

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Can the Minister indicate approximately when this will happen?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The consents in the phase 2 process must be agreed in the next two and a half to three years. That is the timeline so that we meet our 5 GW target by the end of the decade.

The third phase, or the enduring regime, is where this really opens up. Returning to what we were discussing earlier, with many of these projects, the potential deployment of offshore renewables for hydrogen so storage, and so on, could be part of that regime. It is not just what goes out, but how we bring it ashore, store it and use it. That is where the ports have such a critical role to play. Frans Timmermans, Vice President of the European Commission, gave a very important speech in Rotterdam three weeks ago in which he set out the European vision for that. I am of the view that that vision would apply to Cork, Shannon and elsewhere.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Minister. We have literally two minutes left for questions. If Deputy Burke would like to use one minute of this time, I will allow then one minute for the Minister to reply.