Mr. Jerry Hallissey:

It is important to note the speed of our reaction. The potential is there. We have all identified what it is. Only last weekend, the Global Wind Energy Council released a report that put Ireland front and centre as one of the pacemakers for offshore renewable energy in the next decade or beyond. The opportunity is there; it is about what we can do and the value we can add for ourselves across the board. If we miss the opportunities, the supply will be sourced elsewhere. Mr. Keating referred to the UK being our competition. The North Sea and ScotWind developments are potentially taking from our route to market for the product that is there in the Atlantic. It is important that we engage with that.

It also brings with it the opportunity to assist ourselves. There is potential to manufacture green fertilisers in Ireland, for example. The production of green ammonia can be brought to Ireland and that would assist farmers.

There is also potential in another area. This leads into my answer on the rail aspect of things. It is all interlinked. If we get global refuelling of shipping, let us say, that brings with it the potential to create a global trans-shipment hub that would shorten supply chain routes for Irish exporters and importers on their routes to market. We are trying to bring all this forward. If those supply chain routes are altered and moved elsewhere, we will miss that opportunity. As part of that, rail connectivity to the port is paramount. We are a strong advocate for not just the reopening of the Foynes to Limerick rail line that connects us with the national rail network, but also the developmental potential for the distribution hubs proposed as part of the Irish Rail developmental plan for rail freight. There is potential to assist in decarbonising Dublin by taking the likes of cargo from the west of Ireland down the western rail corridor to be exported out of a port in the west of Ireland. It is about the overall solution. The infrastructure has to be put in place in order to facilitate that, but we have it targeted.