Mr. Jim Dollard:

The Deputy spoke about the 1 GW auction and what this means in terms of a separate competition for floating offshore wind infrastructure. In creating that competition, we would be doing two things. We would deliver essential infrastructure and effectively be building a pathway to the future and investing in that future. If we are going to capture the benefits of supply chain in floating offshore wind, that investment must be made now. We can look at what is happening across the water in Scotland, where it has consented more than 10 GW - it is possibly 13 GW - of floating offshore wind. That country will be competing with us for that supply chain. Those projects can be delivered by 2030 and maybe early in the following decade. There is a significant opportunity, if Ireland invests in it. We have resources off the west and south coast to build a big supply chain that will give economic benefits to the State beyond the energy industry.

On the Deputy's specific point, we call for an auction. If it is 1 GW, it will have competition because a number of projects will compete. We see probably two projects coming out of a competition and that competition is needed to protect the consumer. The auction should be shaped in that regard.

I spoke earlier about the price of floating offshore wind and, like that of all renewable technologies, it is falling rapidly and will converge towards the end of the decade or thereabouts in its comparison with the price of fixed installations. By the time those projects are delivered for the 1 GW auction, we could be talking about a gap of approximately 30% in costs. That will depend on how quickly technology might converge in the meantime. It is between 30% and 50% but falling as we go through the decade. We should remember that if we consent these projects in the next year or two, they will be built in 2027, 2028 and 2029.