Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. McGarry for coming in and offer my best wishes as he continues in the role. I will pick up on the opportunity and challenge in the time ahead. We had news yesterday of expected bumper income for the State in the year to come. In Mr. McGarry's own area we have had a further report from Wind Energy Ireland in the past week or number of days. It concerns the readiness or otherwise of our ports and wider infrastructure to facilitate offshore wind. I think this is the second report Wind Energy Ireland has commissioned. Everybody talks about the opportunity that is there and it is well laid out, but picking up on the Senator's point, somebody must go and make it happen and there are a whole series of actions that need to be taken. Something we are clear on is our ports are not ready or fit for purpose. With respect to the construction of offshore wind facilities, I think Belfast is the only port on the island that is at that stage.

I will pick up on a number of the points in the latest report from Wind Energy Ireland. It talks about the need for the ports, the offshore renewable energy industry and the State agencies to come together as part of the offshore wind delivery task force. This is an issue raised by Deputy Naughten at Leaders' Questions today. I think it was prompted by the expected revenue figures yesterday. There is the updating of the national ports policy, which is something this committee will have a role in, to enable the State to invest in port infrastructure for offshore renewable energy. That is an issue I have raised regularly with the Minister. His response, which Mr. McGarry will be more familiar with than most, is the State does not invest in ports and there is competitive funding from the Trans-European Network for Transport, TEN-T, or the Connecting Europe Facility, CEF. The Minister will argue we have a particular history in competing for those funds and that Government will work with industry and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, to support the development of port infrastructure for offshore renewable energy. I ask Mr. McGarry to speak to the type of practical moves that need to be made, especially at a financing level, to allow Shannon Foynes to realise the clear and pretty spectacular opportunity that is there. I have heard from representatives of other ports who point to other jurisdictions and I guess the argument on behalf of the State on this is around state interference in the market and supporting individual ports. However, we can see there are many examples across the EU, in France and other places, where through municipalities a way is found for the state, in some shape or form, to financially invest in ports as strategic infrastructure.