Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister ensure that this House will get an opportunity to discuss this plan? The Coastal Concern Alliance said the plan should be based on a democratically agreed marine policy which maps out a future scenario for our seas, while serving the public interest. Is that not the key point? We must serve the public interest and not have developer-led projects which enrich certain oligarchs. That will not achieve energy security and low energy costs for this country.

Will the Minister respond to the point I made about two Departments being involved? Does this not have the potential to be a disaster? Where the Department of Justice and Equality, and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport are in charge of road traffic administration and offences, the end result is deplorable and messy. It has led to all kinds of anomalies. It would therefore be better if one Department, perhaps the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, took full control of this matter, including all the planning aspects.

Would the Minister consider going back to the drawing board with this document and ask his officials to produce a cost-benefit analysis? For example, the UK has established an amount of wind energy from 45 wind farms that would fuel this country completely. It has been estimated in the UK that it costs between €100,000 and €1.3 million per job, but not too many jobs are required when the wind farm is up and running. Siemens and a number of Danish companies are the main beneficiaries of the capital investment. Will we get a proper cost-benefit analysis of the wind sector and the likely cost structure of other renewables?

The Minister announced the provision of a number of Exchequer supports in his initial press statement. While it is valuable to research the potential of wave power, a key issue in this regard would relate to how close to the coast the relevant facilities would be located. Most people are of the view that the wind facilities would not be even remotely economically viable unless they were located on the sandbanks just off the coast of County Dublin. If the latter were to happen, there would be serious degradation and damage done to the environment of Dublin. The cost benefit of all of this must be estimated, particularly in the context of our tourism industry and the fact that citizens who live in the Dublin Bay North constituency and elsewhere in the city and county are currently in a position to visit the seaside. Will the Minister address these issues and ensure that we will have a debate of three or four hours' duration on this topic in the next couple of months?

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