Mr. Stephen Kavanagh:

The wind resources of the nation are massive. There is huge potential there. It is the job of Government to make sure a good percentage of those resources are going back to the local communities and the Irish economy. We do not want a situation in which all those profits are going overseas. Absolutely, there is a danger they can be privatised with all the profits going overseas. They could be traded on the Stock Exchange and Ireland could get very little out of it.

We have had meetings with the developers of the Codling Bank and SSE Airtricity which are developing the Kish Bank off Arklow with wind farms and they are both extremely interested in working with us and doing some kind of environmental restoration around the wind turbines, so there is a good opportunity for us to work with the wind industry.

However, because, we assume, the locations of the wind farms will become no-fish zones, they are excellent areas for all kinds of marine restoration. We are also interested in the near-coast habitats such as kelp forests and so forth as a means of protecting vital nursery grounds for offshore fisheries.

I work in the fishing industry, in processing. There is a huge interest on its part. It is incredible people talk about the fishing industry as being the enemy sometimes but it is very important. Especially in terms of oyster restoration, it is important some of these beds and reefs are worked, fished and managed for them to succeed, so there is a huge tie-in with the industry. The fish processing industry is also interested in what we are working with. It has been invited to our workshops to partake in discussions on how the industry can work together with farms and everyone involved.