Ms Vanessa O'Connell:

In regard to fishing, I was working primarily in England but had some interaction with Scotland as well. It is always a challenge because it involves putting infrastructure in an area that may be fished, so we need to find a way to resolve that. In the UK, some lessons have been learned relating to coexistence and compensation, and we have looked at opportunities to get the fishing industry involved in the offshore wind industry as guard vessels and in construction and operations. Nevertheless, it is important that when we come back to Ireland, we understand the concerns of the fishing industry here and how we can solve those problems. Some lessons will be learned, but Ireland is unique and the fishing industry is really important to the country. For us at Inis Offshore Wind, it is the number one stakeholder we have. Very early on, we engaged with it to understand its concerns and how we could mitigate its concerns whether through the wind farm design or by finding ways to coexist.

I will pass over to Mr. Moran to discuss the initiative going on within Wind Energy Ireland, specifically as it relates to the fishing industry and the groups that have been formed. I was very happy to hear the Deputy welcome the sector deal. It is something we can take away to contacts we have who are involved in the UK sector deal because I think they would be more than happy to help. A number of people within the UK industry are also looking to Ireland. They would be more than happy to welcome us over there, perhaps to visit a wind farm to understand what is going on. That is something we can take away.