Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 17 April 2024
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Offshore Wind Energy Strategy: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Mr. Gary Tobin:
That is a fair point. Enterprise Ireland has developed the Gael Offshore Network, which is a supply chain for the offshore wind industry. That network comprises more than 100 companies in the offshore wind sector. We think there is significant potential for an offshore wind national cluster. We plan to develop an offshore wind centre of excellence. That is contained in the strategy. One of the potential focuses of that centre of excellence would be to develop a national cluster around offshore wind. There could be, for example, cluster managers who would work to build a collaborative network of companies in the offshore wind space. We are preparing a scoping study around the potential for the centre of excellence and what it might focus on.