Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

My next question is for Mr. Fitzgerald. We have a huge comparative cost advantage in offshore wind and we should be thinking ambitiously. It is part of a European project. I was just looking through the European report that Mr. Fitzgerald referred to. Ireland is looking at 22 GW and we have 425,000 km² of probably the windiest sea area in the world and Poland, with only 30,000 km² in the relatively becalmed Baltic generates 28 GW, which is 6 GW more than us. This leads me to think we are not being ambitious enough with 22 GW. I note the European report divides it between 6 GW in the Irish Sea and 16 GW in the west and with regard to cost very much focuses on the north west rather than the south west, which surprised me. Perhaps the north west is windier and that is why it is a lower cost. Let us assume we follow the report's advice and put 20 GW in the north west. Does Mr. Fitzgerald believe shipping it to the rest of Europe will involve the onshore Irish transmission system? Are we best landing it ashore in Ireland and using existing and new interconnectors to transfer it? Has Mr. Fitzgerald thought yet about how that 20 GW of power would be shipped?