Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy cannot seriously say that the private sector will not have a significant role, particularly in an area such as offshore energy. The amount of money that is required - and I ask the Deputy to take this from me on trust - in terms of the investment base needed for these offshore projects is not in the millions; it is in the billions. I do not disagree with what the Deputy says at all in terms of her view of the future and her positive approach to it, but the idea that the State has the resources to develop these projects, even at the level of research, is a bit fanciful.

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