Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The question is on the roll-out of offshore wind turbines. Seven projects have been granted licences and are being fast-tracked under the old system. A new renewable option will be run for the next phase of projects. The projects will be will be plan led rather than developer led and concentrated in certain areas. The point of this is to speed up the development of offshore wind energy projects, which is a priority in response to the war in Ukraine. It is in line with the REPowerEU strategy, which asks member states to designate certain areas in the marine area as go-to areas where planning permission is granted more quickly with the aim of getting consents issued within 12 months. Shortly, I expect that the Minister, Deputy Ryan will bring proposals to the Cabinet to approve this approach and we will see our first phase projects being addressed.

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