Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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It is important to state that our grid is regarded as an international exemplar of the extent to which it has successfully taken renewables on board. We are now aiming for an 80% renewable figure. It is important to put the issue in context and it is worth saying that Scotland is different. That brings me to the following question. With capital and construction capacity scarce for public investment in Ireland, the organisations represented today are urging the Government to do more and to put more of its money into accelerating offshore wind beyond what it is already anticipating. I want to tease that out. Are the organisations' higher ambitions conditional on export? Is that really the context, rather than greening our existing grid? Will it require additional interconnection and the development of the green hydrogen sector? There are obviously different phases to the work, and different elements have higher priority at a time of constrained resources, a housing crisis and all of the other issues. The challenge facing the Government is choosing which of these things are most urgent. How do the organisations represented assess that urgency in the context of other issues, as well as the fact that it requires the development of a hydrogen sector that is still relatively underutilised? There needs to be a hydrogen strategy here that gives us a context for that.

The witnesses have stated that there the water off the west coast is extraordinarily deep, conditions are harsh, and will still be difficult to work in. Should this be more of a European infrastructural play than simply an Irish play? Should we be looking to the longer-term global context in which the Atlantic resource will be tapped into? Does that alter the view of the witnesses on how this opportunity should be developed?

I am also interested to know what the successful elements of the Scottish strategy were, and what mistakes were made so that we can perhaps learn from them. I know that the Scottish project is different. Scotland has a bigger connection and a bigger demand source on its doorstep. Those are my questions.