Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We are being ambitious. We have to achieve what was set out in the programme for Government, that is, at least 5 GW of offshore wind energy generation by 2030. The programme for Government commits to developing a longer-term plan to harness the estimated 30 GW of wind energy that could potentially be tapped into in our Atlantic waters.

The Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 provides the legal underpinning for this new planning and development system, which will balance the harnessing of our offshore potential with the protection of our environment. On 25 April, the application window for maritime area consent, MAC, applications under the new marine planning regime will open for a set of pre-qualified projects. The first MACs are expected to be granted in the second half of this year. In tandem, my Department is designing a pathway, based on consultation feedback, for a second batch of projects to progress through the new consenting system upon the establishment of the maritime area regulatory authority early next year. Work on a revised offshore renewable energy development plan is currently in progress. This plan will set out the pathway for the development of offshore renewable energy beyond 2030.

As I have said, we are establishing a cross-departmental offshore wind delivery task force to drive delivery. Its work will include identifying the supporting infrastructure we will need and supply chain opportunities for Ireland's offshore wind industry.

The case for ambition in this area is that we are not the only one in this business now. We are actually playing catch-up with some other countries. The UK has already deployed approximately 14 GW of offshore generating capacity and just announced yesterday that it is accelerating its ambition and raising its target from 40 GW by 2030 to 50 GW. Our German colleagues are out in the North Sea already. Because of Germany's need to switch away from Russian gas, it is planning to increase its target from 30 GW by 2030 to 70 GW. Belgium has also revised its plan and is now aiming for 8 GW rather than 2 GW by 2030. I am just making the point that we are in the north-west European regional electricity market. Cables, turbines and so on will all have to be shipped to these various different countries so we have to be quick and ambitious if we are to be part of that shift and change.

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