Ms Vanessa O'Connell:

I will answer the Deputy's question in the broader sense of the UK context. When the sector deal was signed, it was looking at offshore wind in the whole of the UK. As it has developed, Scotland has started to focus on what Scotland can do itself, rather than with England and Wales. Looking at the whole of the UK, one of the lessons learned is thinking about what the different parts of the country need. Originally, there was the Offshore Wind Industry Council, which was for the whole of the UK. Now, Scotland has its own Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council. It is looking at what Scotland needs, rather than what the rest of the UK needs. That is one of the lessons learned.

It has also been a focus in the UK. The benefits of offshore wind are not concentrated within one area. The wind farms are all around the coast. We need therefore to look to understand where we can develop clusters for innovation for the development of the supply chain. That is in around areas such as Cork, the west, Foynes and the east. That cluster effect is important for having a national strategy, as well as for thinking about what we need in different parts of the country. That is one key lesson that has been learned. It is also safe to say that the UK and Scotland are still on the journey in offshore wind. They have been successful to date, but they still have much work to do. We are also facing some of the challenges they are facing. There are lessons to learned by working together. Some of those challenges, particularly for Scotland, relate to grid infrastructure.

The Deputy raised the point of export opportunity around interconnection. That is also a challenge for Scotland. We must understand that they are nearly at 100% renewables on their system. They are already exporting their energy to England. They are looking to see where they can export it abroad. System integration is a challenge. Resourcing is also a challenge. That is a key challenge for Ireland. It is a matter of resourcing within the industry as well as across the industry, for example with the likes of EirGrid, An Bord Pleanála and the environmental organisations. This comes back to our point that it is important that we come together to learn the lessons from other markets. Those primarily come from the industries. It is a matter of many international players coming to Ireland and people like myself coming back to Ireland. We can share the lessons we have learned. We can ask what is right for Ireland. We can ask what we want the vision to be. Then we can work towards that.