Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that a sunset of 2025 was introduced for the plant in 2015. It was not expected that there would be a significant shift in employment terms as early as 2019. The expectation was that the company had four or five years to transition and get a plan together. That transition period has not been provided and I accept that commercial reality. Now that the bus has effectively stopped, it is time to get a plan in place. I question the idea that something has to be commercially viable. The ESB is a fantastic company. ESB international has developed technologies ahead of others, whether in laying lines under the sea or developing technologies for fixing those lines. The company has been way ahead of others. I would like to think the ESB was also advancing the case in terms of research and development and not looking purely at investment in a commercial venture. At some point, the capture of wind in the Atlantic Ocean will be commercially viable. Is the ESB investing money in research and development in nascent technologies and new ideas for the capture of wind or is it taking a suck it and see approach? Is it waiting for commercially viable developments elsewhere in the world at which point it will push these technologies out into the Atlantic Ocean? Is the ESB looking at the real potential of making Ireland an industry leader in the capture of offshore wind in deep waters?