Mr. Garrett Connell:

On the Oriel example, we brought in Parkwind, which is the leading offshore wind developer in Belgium. It has delivered three projects to date and is currently building the fourth. It is a key example of the type of expertise we will need to bring into the Irish projects that are developing.

Deputy Ryan asked a question on the auction structure. What we really need is a practical solution that can be delivered quickly if offshore is to be part of the mix to meet our 2020 targets or to come in soon afterwards. There are numerous examples across Europe of this type of auction scheme. The UK is a good example. They have technology-specific pots that are allocated and that have certain caps by technology and by the amount of support they can provide. They have been very successful in reducing the cost of offshore wind in the UK. It is also worth mentioning that direct negotiation for a tariff has been a common method of bringing offshore wind projects forward in the early days of a new system. This is possible under the state aid scheme as well under certain conditions, such as where there is limited capacity for an auction or limited ability of other projects to compete.