Mr. Paul Kelly:

In relation to consultation with the fishermen, one of the mechanisms which we strongly advocated for was the setting up of the national ORE-seafood working group. There is quite a splintered representational structure for fishermen in Ireland. We strongly advocate that they engage with the representative organisations because it is an effective way to communicate engagement on a national basis and for them to stay aware of what is happening in this space. Communication can be challenging with the community. All projects that our members are progressing which are mature and have entered into the planning process have dedicated points of contact. While they are all large energy companies, it is important that there is an individual to whom people, particularly those from the fishing sector, can go. Developers have facilitated that process. The quality of that engagement needs to recognise that it is a long-term relationship. The concept of wind turbines on planning drawings is one thing. All of the decisions regarding how the cable infrastructure gets put into the seabed and how it is protected still need to be made on a practical basis. We strongly recommend that those communities continue to engage with those projects and recognise the long-term nature of that engagement.