Mr. Kieran Ivers:

As the only one of the witnesses here who has feet on the ground in the supply chain, I assure the Deputy that we share his concerns. We are well aware that the bounty achieved in Cork from the Kinsale gas field was the contract for catering. That needs to be reversed. We cannot make the same mistakes again. Ireland has a poor history in the context of benefiting from our own natural resources. A sectoral deal is not an off-the-shelf solution. It can only be achieved with collaboration between the Government, industry and officials. The by-product of that type of collaboration is a sectoral deal that is bespoke to Ireland and that we can benefit from. That should encourage the development of an indigenous supply chain, as well as foreign direct investment into Ireland. We cannot do it all ourselves but we can encourage investment and make provisions so those who want to do business in Ireland have to invest in Ireland and not just create a postcode. Deputy Bruton spoke about dipping into Ireland's coffers. In Scotland, the industry stimulus that was provided, from the developer's pocket, as a result of that collaboration has been critically important.

Collaboration between entities will also help the Government identify some of the surmountable challenges the industry is facing right now. One example in Green Rebel's world is this issue around licensing and foreshore licences. Right now we have a buoy, a floating LiDAR innovation, which is best in class globally and was developed in Ireland specifically to target floating offshore wind. We are having to send it to Rotterdam, and will continue to do so over the next two years, investing north of €3 million, in order to get its certification because we cannot get licensing here. We are not talking about the licensing of an offshore wind farm. This is a tiny piece but these are surmountable challenges that can only be brought to this type of forum. This opportunity for Ireland, including the economic opportunity, cannot be lost. That is what we are passionate about.