Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The company about which I am talking - Wavebob - is well known. I realise it is piloting this technology which the Minister included in the Action Plan for Jobs and Delivering Our Green Potential. Several documents have been produced by bodies connected with the Government. The NESC produced a document on the Climate Change Bill in which it stated Ireland's offshore wind energy resources offered a significant export opportunity. When we are talking about frontier technology, it is clear that it takes time to develop. Significant expertise has been built up by this flagship company. I accept that it was in the development stage, but does the Minister accept that it is very short-sighted not to retain the expertise built up in this company over more than a decade? It appears there were significant delays before the SEAI made a decision, which was part of the problem. Does the Minister also accept that the loss of this frontier technology company costs us connections with other parts of the world in which there is a significant academic input into such work? I question whether the Government is really serious about ocean or marine energy projects or whether it is just ticking boxes. We all accept that it will take time to develop such projects, but when one loses a company with more than a dozen years of experience that has been able to leverage European and US funding, in addition to Irish funding, it does not bode well for the future in terms of the focused approach required. I would like to hear about the Government's response about an area in which large numbers of jobs could be created and a new export industry could be created.

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