Mr. Pat Keating:

The short answer is “Yes”. I am not criticising anybody here but there is a need for the Government at the highest levels to call out what Ireland's ambition is in this area. It is to satisfy just local demand or do we want to engage our resource in its entirety and satisfy European demand? It is a critically important question to answer. If the answer is the latter, we want to use our resources to assist Europe and increase the value added from that resource nationally, the focus on floating offshore wind and the west coast needs to be elevated considerably. The mandates that cascade down to the various Departments may ensure the focus and priority on floating offshore become more immediate. Currently, there is phase 1, phase 2 and the new phase 3, about which there is some uncertainty. Then, there is the enduring regime, which is from 2030 and beyond. The problem with all of that is that, as ports, we must provide the enabling infrastructure, which port infrastructure is, in advance. The enabling infrastructure is ports plus the grid. The likes of EirGrid has a huge role as well. Certainty is needed when going for planning, consenting and funding - the bankers will need certainty as well.

Everything is being pushed out to a degree at the moment. It is about 5 GW by 2030, the east coast, then moving to the south and the west coast is from 2030 and beyond. It translates, as I said earlier, into the designated marine area plans, DMAPs, which are currently under consultation. That is the first job of work which must be completed under the new Maritime Area Planning, MAP, Act. They will not be completed for another nine to ten months, I think. The maritime area consents, MACs, come after that, which must be issued by the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA. Those timelines are critically important. Without the DMAPs in place, developers cannot start investigating projects because they cannot get licences to do site investigation work, for example.

It goes back to the start and, as a country, what we want from our offshore renewable resources. As I said earlier, there is an immense resource out there. It is about the timing of when we engage. Even if we engage immediately and start to push and fast-track, it will be 2032 before the first turbines will be commissioned, allowing for planning lead times and all of that. Even by acting right now, 2032 is the earliest point. Other countries have their auctions up and running already so they are five years ahead. The process is DMAPs, MACs, planning permission and auctions. That is the rough timeline for a developer. The ports must be in place for developers to be able to price their projects for auctions and all of that.