Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome Senator Murkowski.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion.

Offshore renewables have the potential to decarbonise our energy system, the electricity, heat, transport and the residential sectors and those of large parts of Europe and have the potential to transform the Irish economy if we use our abundant natural resources to create national wealth and good jobs in every corner of Ireland supporting thriving communities. The risk, of course, and it is a real one with this Government, is that the opportunity will be missed because the Government cannot get its house in order and put the enabling infrastructure in place, planning system, grid, ports, regulation and collaboration. The other risk, again a very real one with this Government, is that we will be sold short, that the benefit of this huge opportunity will not accrue to fishing communities or young men and women starting out in their professional careers, or to local communities that live beside new and necessary infrastructure. We recognise the role of private industry and of international expertise but we must ensure that the return for the Irish State and its people is maximised. We need to get planning, ports and grid right, we need to get the supply chain right and we need to create new industries and jobs here, all while protecting a marine environment that is under threat. Ireland has the potential to be a world leader when it comes to renewables. However, due to decades of inaction by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael-led Governments, Ireland has fallen way behind.

The time for planning is over. I note that the Government's motion talks about plan after plan. We know what needs to be done and we know how to do it. It is time for action and implementation.

We have a significant challenge ahead of us but there are steps we can take. While there is a logic in moving to a plan-led approach, there is deep concern that the planning system here is not fit for purpose. It is slow, adversarial and wracked with uncertainty. Therefore, fundamental reform of An Bord Pleanála is urgently needed. Sinn Féin called for this and provided for this in our alternative budget. The first offshore renewable electricity support scheme, ORESS - 1, was a significant milestone but there is some way to go in prices and in practicalities. These projects and all those that follow must still pass through the huge hurdle of the Irish planning system. The Government must urgently get to grips with the under resourcing and understaffing in the State bodies involved as well as the lack of relevant expertise to carry out mandated objectives. It is not only An Bord Pleanála; it is the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, EirGrid and the newly-formed Maritime Area Regulation Authority. It is also the full range of notifiable bodies and those environmental bodies that work to protect biodiversity and nature.

We need designated marine area plans and we need them in time and on time, and we need to address the high price of renewables here. I am calling again on the Government to adopt Sinn Féin's proposal to convene a cross-government high-level task force to work with industry and other stakeholders to bring forward recommendations within six months to address the high cost of renewables here.

We must ready our ports. Currently, there is only one port on the island which has the infrastructure needed. We have had the ports before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action in the past two weeks and their asks are clear. Without more offshore-ready ports, we will either completely miss our climate targets or these wind farms will be built elsewhere. We could be growing jobs in Wexford, Cork, Limerick and elsewhere but, instead, they will go to Britain or mainland Europe.

We need progress on green hydrogen and we need progress in so many other areas. This is a unique opportunity and I want to state the commitment of Sinn Féin to deliver on it. It can be transformational, it should be transformational but we need a step-change.

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