Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is a bit of a shock to the system that we must pay out €50 million for nothing. What I mean is there is no return to us. We are paying €50 million to two other countries, namely, Denmark and Estonia, for the privilege of having a piece of paper to say we met our requirements. As has been said, €50 million is a lot of money. The main thing I will say is that is this year; it is 2020. What will we be paying out next year? We need to look at this in a sobering way to see exactly what we are doing and, more appropriately, not doing.

It has been pointed out that €50 million could do many things in this country. I believe, however, it is much deeper than just the cost alone. We must examine why we are so far behind and why we are not able to get our offshore wind onto the agenda.

The authorities in our port in Galway will tell the Minister of State one of the big issues we have is foreshore licenses, which can take years, and there is no timeframe by which a person will receive one. We must also make sure our maritime planning is set in a way that it is conducive to getting offshore wind energy under way.

Like the Minister, I am from the west of Ireland. We know the potential of the Atlantic for us and for the west of Ireland to develop a proper offshore wind energy industry. It should be the game changer for the region. To make it the game changer, however, we need to make sure and move fast to ensure we tidy up the archaic way we give licences and, in particular, foreshore licenses. Places such as Galway Port and Shannon Foynes Port should be the cornerstones of the development of offshore wind in in this country. We need to do that. Both ports are doing their best to develop but they are being stymied by reams of regulation. Much of it is EU regulation this country has transposed in a way that makes it almost impossible to work in.

I suggest that is the starting point for us today. It has cost us €50 million to pay for the sins of this year. What do we need to do? We must make sure that people who want to take on offshore energy are in a position to be able to do it quickly and in a way that produces the results for us. We talk about it being privatised. I believe we need to have a shareholding in the private enterprise that is and will be carrying out this work. We need to make sure there is a dividend for the State.

We also need to shake up the whole area of retrofitting of houses. A person who is in fuel poverty and who applies for a grant for a house is told he or she must wait two years before getting the house inspected. There is therefore a huge problem regarding how we do our business, which is manifesting itself when we must pay money to another country to help them develop what we should be doing in our own country. It is a wake-up call. We need to do it and we have the potential to do it but we need to move fast. Many people will say we cannot do this and that. It is time, however, for a change of attitude to make sure we get people in place to get things done, and make sure we develop our offshore wind, public transport, electronic care fleet, autonomous cars and all these areas to have a vision for the next 20 or 30 years, and realise that vision by making sure we put in place the necessary measures to allow the development to happen. There is great potential in this for Ireland; we are well positioned. The west of Ireland has clean water and a clean environment. We need to harness that potential and start doing it now.

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