Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the contents of the national port study which was commissioned by Wind Energy Ireland. It provides a useful profile of port infrastructure and the proposed development plans of the port companies for both fixed and floating installations. Ireland has ambitious plans with regard to the development of offshore renewable energy in the seas around Ireland. This report aligns with the Government policy I published last December on the facilitation of offshore renewable energy by Irish commercial ports in identifying that a number of port facilities will be required for deployment activity and that multiple ports will be needed for operation and maintenance operations.

Delivery of the necessary infrastructure is ongoing in ports to address the requirements of industry. Ireland will potentially need to build on a phased basis four or five standard offshore renewable energy port facilities, each of which should be capable of building 500 MW of offshore renewable energy annually that will act as construction and deployment points over the next 25 to 30 years. In addition, a number of smaller ports will be required for offshore renewable energy operations and maintenance activities. A multi-port approach will ultimately allow investments that are commercially viable in the long-term to progress without undermining the ability of any port to meet its primary obligations in relation to the facilitation of international trade.

Officials in the Department have engaged with Wind Energy Ireland in relation to the study and the association along with Marine Renewable Energy Ireland. They made a presentation last month to the offshore renewable energy port's co-ordination group which is chaired by the Department of Transport.

In relation to the study recommendations directed at the Department, arrangements are already being made to facilitate a more regular exchange of views and updates between the Department and industry representative associations. With regard to funding, it is envisaged that like all port infrastructure, offshore renewable energy facilities will be funded through a combination of port revenues, EU funding and borrowing from the Irish Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, the European Investment Bank, EIB, and other financial institutions. My Department is already engaging with the various institutions, including the European Commission, about the availability of funding for ports in providing offshore renewable energy infrastructure to meet EU and Ireland's ambitions.

In relation to other recommendations, significant work is ongoing at official level across a number of Departments to accelerate a drive delivery and to capture the longer term potential in this area.

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