Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the ports for they work they are currently doing in highlighting this issue. We have all gotten caught up, to some extent, in the potential or bounty, as it were, particularly in the mid west, where there is lots of talk about the potential for the capture of offshore wind in the Atlantic, not just for the domestic but also for the international market. People are getting carried away with the numbers and the scale of it. Without key infrastructure, and that requires the State to fund it, we are nowhere. Like others, I have had the opportunity to meet with various different actors outside of Ireland. We are a long way behind. In Norway, where I recently I met with representatives of Equinor, they do not see Ireland as being first up and best-dressed, or even second up and poorly dressed. They do not see us as being at the game. While we might rely on the basis that it has left the EU, the UK, for all its failings, is still powering ahead with this stuff, particularly in the north east and Scotland. It appears that the Government there is far more clued in to the needs and expectations of developers. It is not really a question for the witnesses in terms of their interaction with developers, but are they coming across any concerns being expressed about the potential loss to Ireland? Particularly in the area of floating offshore wind, the platforms can be moved. Ultimately, that is how it will happen. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that they will be formed elsewhere. Yet again, we will be at the tail end of a development that we should have been pioneering. We may lose all the potential employment that we might have got in terms of work in the ports, and not just port work but in the construction works that would take place. Has that been factored that in? Can the witnesses talk to us about the real risk of losing a major opportunity?