Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Okay. I met recently with some diplomats from another country. I will not betray all of the meeting with them. They were very helpful but they made it very clear if the Irish ports do not get themselves in order, theirs would be the country that will be able to build offshore turbines, tow them into position and anchor them to the seabed. They said that while Ireland has really far-reaching plans for offshore wind, which I am aware are very close to the Minister's heart, the onshore capacity to deliver them simply is not there. Belfast is probably the only port in the country fully configured to start taking in this infrastructure in a half-assembled state and then bring it out to where it needs to be at.

What I heard loud and clear is many other European countries are very helpful, but for a good reason, which is that this is lucrative stuff. If the ports of Rosslare, Foynes etc. are not positioned to develop and bring this infrastructure to where it needs to be at, we will see the likes of Bremen, Hamburg, Rotterdam etc. filling that void. There is the altruistic, environmental reason to go there and do all that, but then there is the lucrative aspect as this is going to make huge money for Ireland through electricity generation. The other lucrative phase is construction and development and bringing the turbines on site. That phase of financial windfall could very quickly pass us by. Will the Minister comment on how we can better position ourselves?