Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)

In clarifying, I will address the Deputy’s first point first. We addressed the element that resides within the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine at the beginning of the meeting. There was a communication from both Departments. I will be happy to revert to the matter relating to the Department responsible for the marine if the Deputy wants. The two sides are addressed.

The Deputy addressed the same issue as Deputy Whitmore and had a specific interest in the western seaboard. Deputy Whitmore was right in that there is a really important opportunity for Ireland, as it seeks to have carbon neutrality by 2050, to capture a lot of electricity off the west coast.

Deputy Gallagher has identified the matter of infrastructure. There is port infrastructure and grid infrastructure, which the Government has prioritised. There is some capacity to take electricity to the east coast, where it is needed. In this regard, I would point to the two 200 kV lines out of Moneypoint, which provide access to the east coast. This is important because it is going to be hard to build grid above ground given the objections we have seen. However, the real opportunity for capturing wind off the western seaboard will emerge as a result of decisions such as those taken by the Cabinet today on progression around private wires. Such decisions will allow large electricity users to connect to energy farms in close proximity to them off the grid. There are genuine opportunities in this regard. The Deputy will have seen in the programme for Government references to energy parks. If we are to capture a lot of wind off the coast of Donegal, Mayo, Galway or Clare, why not situate the large energy users in close proximity to where the energy is captured rather than transmit it through additional grid to get to the east coast? That is very much part of the longer-term thinking on capturing electricity off the west coast. There are opportunities along the east coast as well but there are constraints at the minute. The energy is needed just to deal with the demand that will come from decarbonising our economy in the first instance. I am referring to moving heat, power and transport away from fossil fuels towards a cleaner and greener alternative, which, ultimately, is electricity.