Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Many people are only beginning to realise the scale of what is being proposed here. We have projects comprising about 28 GW of energy at various stages of proposals, planning and funding. In capital terms, that is €80 billion worth of expenditure. If we can realise that kind of potential offshore, which of course is many multiples of what Ireland's energy grid actually uses, the estimate is that by 2050 about 5,000 people will have been employed in the creation and building of that sector, while billions of euro of investment will have been generated along with many permanent jobs in the maintenance and management of those offshore grid systems. There are huge pieces of infrastructure that need to be constructed onshore and then taken offshore, both fixed and floating. This is an energy revolution that we are talking about. It is going to change the Irish economy and it is going to change how we sell Ireland to the rest of the world as a place for international business. There will be massive opportunities for indigenous Irish companies in that space. We have a unit in Enterprise Ireland that is focusing specifically on renewable energy. They are contributing to the deliberations of the Shannon Estuary task force, for example, and to discussions that are taking place in respect of how we can ensure that Irish indigenous companies can grow and expand in order to allow us to realise this potential.

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