Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming in. There is much we could speak about but I will keep to the agenda item which is the climate action plan. The plan is so large, but there are two main areas I will concentrate on. One is offshore renewables, because the target of 5 GW by 2030 is very ambitious to say the least. It is very welcome and has been mentioned up to this point and before the climate action plan. What confidence can the Minister give to the industry in regard to that being rolled out by 2030? The Maritime Area Planning Bill is progressing through the Houses. The concern is that by the time it takes MARA to start up we are looking at another year, so is there anything that can be done in the interim to speed things up? We also need to ensure we have marine protected areas in place before allowing development in those areas.

I come from the west of Ireland where wind is plentiful. The first ORESS auction is to take place next year. Will the west of Ireland see benefits from that? Much of the development has been concentrated around the east and south. If we delay things in the west, and do not do both in parallel, then we may see other countries take up the investment that we could very easily benefit from.

The second item relates to citizen engagement. There had been some suggestion that there was not enough engagement on this plan. I would like hear what the Minister has to say, as there is a large amount in this plan that outlines the kind of engagement we are going to have and it is important that it gets out.