Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

-----and realised that the output when the wind is blowing would be approximately half of that of the largest nuclear power station in the United Kingdom. We are at a comparable scale where ocean energy can deliver significant amounts of electricity into the national grid. If we can tap into ocean currents in particular, we have the potential for a steady energy supply source that could be the Holy Grail in terms of tackling our electricity needs. The work of Ocean Hydro, Wavebob and many other companies are carrying out on test beds in Galway Bay and the proposals for the Mayo coast will allow us to prototype this technology and move into feeding energy into the national grid, which is a good thing.

I wish to touch on the concerns raised by the Coastal Concern Alliance at several meetings. I have no doubt its members have met with Opposition Members as well. The essence of their thinking is that we should consider carefully how we plan what happens on the foreshore. They say we need a planning process that is comparable to what we do on dry land and that we should have meaningful consultation and visual assessment of what happens. I agree with all of those sentiments. We have to consider carefully how we go about doing that.

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is the natural home for the allocation of foreshore licences. As always, I am concerned when someone dealing with a national issue is embedded in a Department that might not tie in as well as it should to moving the issues forward. Climate change and energy security and foreshore licensing fit slightly better together within the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. This is a positive thread.

I return to the issue of this being such a significant new frontier that occupies 57% of the land area, if one can call it that, of the State. When new frontiers are opened up, there is a real danger of claims being staked that are more to do with the economic benefit to the person hammering the stake into the ground than to the State as a whole. I am worried about the possible complexity of ensuring that the rights of the State are protected and that we harvest the potential energy and benefits from the ocean, but that we do it in a democratic and equitable way. The 1930s legislation is creaking under the strain of the pressures being put on it.

We can learn from the legislation that has been put in place to deal with development in new ways. Deputy Higgins referred to the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. In many ways that was the brainchild of his colleague and former party leader, Deputy Quinn. In many respects it put in place a strong and positive framework for the development of-----

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