Dr. Neil Walker:

How long does the Deputy have? The net zero industry Act is about manufacturing of low-carbon technologies. However, the biggest obstacles we face are arguably the deployment of them. Somebody looking to construct a wind farm may wait years to go through not just the planning process but also the inevitable judicial reviews.

We have enormous ambition for our offshore wind but some environmental organisations believe we should not do anything until we have the completed network of marine protected areas which, at best, will take a decade. The offshore renewable energy development plan advisory group believes that marine plans can be designated for specific areas where it would be possible to put down either floating or fixed offshore wind farms without damaging coral, and without impacting cetaceans, migratory fish or whatever. However, it is a debate on what can be done with the limited resources we have in the courts, the new maritime area regulatory authority, An Bord Pleanála, the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities and the EPA. They are all poaching staff from each other. It is a kind of an in-joke, but it is not funny. We are desperately under-resourced on the regulatory side.