Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In the absence of Deputy Tóibín, I will step in. I welcome the opportunity and I thank my Regional Independent colleagues for introducing this important motion. Having listened to the Minister's speech, it is clear that he is aware of what we are all trying to achieve here. He repeatedly talked about what will happen in the future. The thrust of our motion is that if we are to create the offshore renewable energy dynamic that the country needs, we need to ensure we start now. The one thing we should learn from the past is to have justifiable timeframes for making decisions on planning applications, consents and environmental issues. I have first-hand experience of what has happened in Galway with the outer ring road. We cannot let that type of thing to go on for years and years, and we need to learn from that.

Getting foreshore licences has been a joke for decades and we have done nothing about it. It is a never-ending litany where something goes into a dark hole and a licence may be issued years later. That needs to go, if we are serious about climate action and serious about realising the country's potential. This is not just an issue for Galway, Mayo or Sligo; it is a national issue.

We need to give this issue a commercial steer. The Minister outlined the development of ports and other infrastructure within the country as well as developing our seas to ensure we realise the full potential. Therefore, we need a single authority to grasp all of this. In his speech, the Minister mentioned several Departments that will be doing something with this. That type of approach is fragmented. The Government has the right ambition - we all have the right ambition - but to realise that we need to ensure we have the facility to do it in a tangible way. We need to do it now and not be talking about it in ten or 20 years' time. It is okay having the vision, which we all have, but we need to put that vision into action immediately. That MARA will not be in place until 2023 is a statement in itself and backs up our motion that we need to get that done as quickly as possible.

An Bord Pleanála is not resourced adequately for what it is dealing with in today's world. It needs to be resourced properly if we are serious about dealing with developments both on land and offshore. All the bodies involved need to be resourced. I reiterate that it needs to be done now. I refer back to the outer bypass in Galway. It is only one part of the infrastructure the country needs. I welcome yesterday's decision by An Bord Pleanála to give the green light to that project. I call on the Government to force that through so that we can gain access throughout the city. It is not just for the city but also for the port, Ros an Mhíl and the region generally. We need to develop all our ports and none of them should be left behind.

I think all the ports and port authorities and the CEOs involved, some of whom we have met, are at one on this. There is something in this for everybody and we need to make sure it is done properly and fast. That is the thrust of what the Regional Group is saying. It is important that this goes back to the heart of the Government and that the development authority we have requested in the motion is put in place as a matter of urgency. If we are serious and real and if we want to make sure we deliver, we have to stop talking about something in the future. If we are to become the supplier of green energy to our country to develop all this new industry, an industrialisation we can achieve, and if we are to bring that green energy to Europe, we need to make sure we create a new connector. We need to do that now. We need to get it going. There is a European dimension to this and there will be European supports for it if the Government and we as a country take it on board and stop looking for the obstacles but, rather, get through them and make sure we deliver this.

See this speech in context