Mr. John Finnegan:

A certain number of them go directly to An Bord Pleanála. One of the problems in the system is there is a great tendency towards appeals. A lot of things end up in An Bord Pleanála. One of the major innovations in the new legislation is that for the first time, An Bord Pleanála will be subject to deadlines. It will have significant additional resources to allow it to meet that requirement.

The grid is a constant issue. Much progress has been made in improving the grid offer with the current ECP system. Before this was introduced, there was a very large backlog of projects that had not even received a grid offer. With the current system having been in operation for three years, the backlog has been cleared and our colleagues in CRU are working on the successor to it, which will aim to provide even more timely connection offers. We are working with them and with EirGrid to ensure they can deliver the timely offers and build out the connections on a timely basis. We have to acknowledge that is a huge challenge as it is a transformation of the system. We are putting a relatively large number of connections for generators in places where there was no generation before and where many more connections are needed and then the power is being brought far away from that to where the centres of demand are. We have to acknowledge the work that has been done, but it is a constant focus on the Department to make sure that the planning delays are dealt with and that the grid connections are available on a timely basis and that we can continue that progress. We are confident that RESS will continue and that we are on track to meet the targets for onshore wind. In fact, it looks to be increasing because onshore wind is going to play a huge part in meeting our carbon targets by 2030.

Regarding offshore wind, we have had a very successful first ORESS auction this year, which was very encouraging. Despite the fact that it was pioneering, it was highly subscribed and a significant number of projects will be coming on stream, seeking planning in the Irish Sea. The next stage of that will be ORESS 2, which will be even more plan-led. We will be designating areas in the Celtic Sea for that.

On the switch from fixed to floating technology, we are technologically neutral. A few years ago, we would have thought that floating technology would be coming much earlier. However, what is happening now is that the fixed technology is improving. It looks like there will be fixed offshore projects coming on stream further out to sea and for longer than we thought. As the Acting Chair correctly noted, there is a limited number of promoters that can do these projects. They are interested in many markets. We need to keep our focus on designing the new systems, running the auctions and making sure that we also have the planning and grid system in place to keep these projects coming.