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

We are not alone in this complex issue. When I talk to my German, Dutch, Belgium and British colleagues, every one of them faces the similar constraint issue. They also have the issue of the optimisation of various competing environmental objectives. The European Commission increasingly recognises that. We have to optimise where we develop offshore wind and ensure the wider environment is protected. I think we can do that.

The development of offshore wind will be really good for the restoration of the maritime areas. Taking the Irish Sea, for example, we have destroyed the Irish Sea over many decades with the loss of fishing stocks, mussel and oyster beds. Looking at what has been lost in the Irish Sea, the restoration of wind power will see the restoration of the environment of the ecosystems in the Irish Sea, as well as in other waters. There are six institutional areas where we have to increase and invest to be able to get this right. We have started this work in my Department since Deputy Bruton's time there. It is no criticism of the Deputy when he was Minister, but the Department has doubled in size in the intervening period. There is a recognition in government, as there was in the previous one, that it takes time for this to ramp up. We have doubled in scale and in the energy area, in particular, the work has been scaled up significantly. An Bord Pleanála is fully resourced and fully complemented. If any request is made by An Bord Pleanála for further resources, I will be the first in government to insist that they are they are provided.

To finish the point, I could say the same for MARA, NPWS, EirGrid and a range of different agencies. The constraint is often not so much in budget or Government commitment. As so many people are now working and interested in this area, the challenge is to get good people who are going into the private sector as well as into the public sector. Our biggest challenge is not the money, but getting the people.

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