Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to support and sponsor today's motion relating to offshore renewable energy. On many occasions in this House, I have mentioned the need to capitalise on opportunities to develop offshore renewable energy. Our motion calls for several things to be prioritised. The first thing is to immediately draft an offshore renewable action plan and to draw up a strategy to ensure that all possible offshore sites are fully considered given the economic benefits, including high-value jobs which can come from the exploitation of the enormous renewable energy resources of our coast.

The first thing that is necessary to achieve our renewable energy targets is a plan. All the relevant stakeholders must examine our resources and capability, and develop a long-term plan for offshore renewable energy to take advantage of the tremendous resources that we have in the Irish maritime area. The plan needs to give value for money to the taxpayer and must involve joined-up thinking from the various Departments. Justin Moran of Wind Energy Ireland said that the lack of a robust planning system for the delivery of offshore renewables has arguably been the single greatest barrier to the deployment of offshore wind energy in Ireland.

The motion calls on the Government to ensure that the proposed maritime area regulatory authority, MARA, is established, resourced and operational within the next 12 months to capitalise on the growing demand for offshore renewable deployment. I understand that the permanent home for MARA will be in Wexford. MARA needs to be operational within the next 12 months to take advantage of the opportunities as they arise. Therefore, it is necessary to find a home for it until the permanent home is constructed and operational. As MARA will be one of the main stakeholders in any offshore energy plan, it is necessary for it to be in existence before and during the planning and development phase rather than afterwards. I was little surprised when the Minister mentioned the first quarter of 2023.

The motion also calls on the Government to establish an offshore renewable development authority similar to IDA Ireland, as my colleagues outlined. That would drive a fully co-ordinated national action plan and would have responsibilities involving research and development, supply chain development and the commercial deployment of renewable energy ensuring that Ireland becomes the leading global clean energy exporter. It would make perfect sense for this authority to be in the same building as MARA. As the building is not yet built, there is ample opportunity to ensure that these related authorities are located side-by-side, remembering that parts of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are already located in Wexford.

It is vital to instruct Enterprise Ireland, in conjunction with the offshore renewable development authority, to stimulate the establishment of indigenous businesses in the renewable energy supply chain through a national renewable energy business accelerator programme. All this onshore development must not be achieved at the expense of the taxpayer. The development of private business in this area is crucial. Enterprise Ireland should play an important role in attracting private investment to the market. Government must ensure businesses are not turned off by over-regulation or unnecessarily onerous obligations, otherwise we will just be repeating the same mistakes made in the housing supply market for the past ten or 15 years. Private investment in this area will bring jobs, economic growth and most importantly efficient use of resources.

Investment in the upgrading of all our ports with the capacity to facilitate the assembly, deployment and maintenance of offshore renewable technologies is also vital. As an Independent Deputy from Wexford, I have a particular interest in the prosperity of Rosslare Europort. It is the closest port to mainland Europe and the closest port to the UK. The need for investment to ensure that it is ready and capable of seizing offshore renewable opportunities is crucial. The potential for the exporting of energy should be harnessed. It is vital that Rosslare Europort is capable of taking advantage of opportunities which may arise. Investment in Rosslare will provide a double bang for the buck of the taxpayer, as the port itself is in dire need of upgrading to cater for the 400% increase in commercial traffic since Brexit. There are 30 direct ferry sailings per week to and from mainland Europe keeping Ireland's trade and supply channel alive, but Government has not provided one shilling to assist in an upgrade. No funds have been allocated to ensure capacity is provided for the further growth of commercial or tourist traffic post Brexit. I appeal to the Government to change this.

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