Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. It is a very interesting discussion. I will pick up on some of the issues that have been raised. One is the issue with resourcing of planning. I welcome how it was framed. It is very useful to think about what it would look like if we make sure there are sufficient resources for planning. In his opening statement, Mr. Moran mentioned not only greater resourcing for An Bord Pleanála but greater resourcing for the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Environmental impact assessments are crucial and we are obliged to do them under EU law. It strikes me there could be far more resources for this than the five inspectorates that are there. More public resources in respect of environmental impact assessments could be useful. Mr. Moran mentioned detailed surveys. Something that came up when we looked at marine biodiversity was that surveys in themselves have an environmental impact. Rather than having multiple companies doing multiple surveys it could be useful if we had more use of shared or public surveys. They could be sources of important data for planning applications by different actors. Do the witnesses have thoughts on this?

We are in limbo with the marine protected areas not yet designated even as we need to move ahead with marine planning. Will the witnesses comment on sensitivity mapping? It could be a very important tool in the marine area so we have all of the information going into the planning process. Judicial reviews are only taken when something was missing from the original process or when it was not done properly. This is an opportunity to have this addressed.

In terms of green hydrogen, Dr. Carton mentioned Ireland is behind in having a hydrogen strategy. Do we have an opportunity to be ahead by having a very clearly green hydrogen strategy? Something we have often seen is that green hydrogen tends to be added in as the poor relation within hydrogen. The German Government now has a specific commissioner for green hydrogen. Is there potential for us to push for our strategy to lead on this? Dr. Carton mentioned the idea of a certification system on green hydrogen specifically. Will he elaborate on this idea? It is quite interesting. It will be crucial that green hydrogen gets named and invested in this regard.

I have seen the original consultation strategy. I was a little bit surprised by the idea of the State-led component of the energy strategy coming in after 2030 and the idea of it being developer-led for now. This seems to be a huge gamble. Dr. Carton mentioned the importance of ensuring our national energy security and local energy supply. He mentioned hydrogen valleys and ensuring hydrogen use and distribution are as close as possible to each other and that we prioritise this. It strikes me that in the context of energy insecurity we may need to put a lot more of a bet on State support for renewable energy and hydrogen.

The problem with solely having it developer-led and if the State does not partner in energy is that developers and industry will partner. We may have scenarios where a high industrial customer sets the market in terms of where renewable energy and wind energy comes in. Towns and communities might be on the periphery of a relationship between an energy provider and a major industrial customer. I am concerned that the State, our energy security needs and our sustainable energy needs should drive the process more. Do the witnesses have comments on this and on the hydrogen valleys idea and how we ensure local communities are properly empowered in the dynamic?