John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

My questions are primarily to Mr. Moran in response to his opening contribution. He mentioned the review of the national port policy, the public consultation that will occur in the autumn and the expectation that a new policy will be launched early next year. How important is the proximity of a suitable port for the development, management and maintenance of an offshore wind farm?

Given the progression in the development of turbines and their increasing size, and possibly the need for increased maintenance of turbines, what are the minimum standards and criteria a port would require to service such a facility and to play a part in developing such a facility? I refer, for example, to the depth of the navigation channel, the width of the turning basin and the size of the berthing basins. What would a port need? How many of our existing ports could facilitate and participate in ensuring the development and servicing of wind farms?

On the current categorisation of ports as tier 1 and tier 2, it seems to me that ports now need to be categorised according to the quantity of sustainable energy they can participate in developing, not purely in terms of tonnage. Do the witnesses have any opinion on that?