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

The key measure for the development of offshore wind will be the acceleration task force that I mentioned in reply to the previous question. We have four or five key tasks to do in offshore renewables. We have to give the consent now for the first phase of the offshore wind projects, get them through planning - some of them will get through and others will not - and get them under contract in order to start construction. The first phase will be mainly on the east coast. When we start phase 2, we will need to get the consenting done in the next two and a half to three years. That phase will be moving south and west, together with further projects on the east coast. In response to this issue, we need to work out a hydrogen strategy in order that we can connect with what happens when energy is brought ashore. We must also look at how we store and share information.

We must also get to phase 3 of the offshore development. This will be the enduring regime - the really big project with an enormous scale of power. As I said earlier, it is deepwater ports like Cork, Shannon and a number of others where we will have the biggest and best opportunities in this regard. This will be State-led and cannot be a Klondike-type regime where everyone runs out, stakes their claim and says "This is my patch and I will decide how it is developed".

EirGrid will have a critical role in designing how we bring this energy ashore and how we ship it, share it and use it. We have to develop our ports such as Cork and elsewhere to facilitate the deployment of these first turbines.

We must also look at the grid, in particular in Dublin city, where there is a significant grid development. We need to bring the power ashore but we also need to heat our homes with heat pumps and power our cars by alternative means.

What we need to do, therefore, is look at the grid, our ports and the first three phases. The project acceleration team is critical because it will bring in different Departments and Government agencies, including the Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, because they have a critical role in ensuring that we match the deployment of the power with job opportunities, and that we also have the people to power it into the future.

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