Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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3. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will outline the measures he will take in 2023 to support Irish ports in readying themselves to help deliver on Ireland's offshore wind potential; if, drawing on European examples, options for direct State funding for ports have been explored and will be employed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10509/23]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I will ask the Minister if he will outline the measures he will take in 2023 to support Irish ports in readying themselves to help deliver on Ireland's offshore wind potential. If drawing on European examples, options for direct state funding for ports have been explored and will be employed. Will he make a statement on the matter?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Offshore renewable energy, ORE, is integral to achieving Ireland’s climate change ambitions with a target of achieving 7 GW of offshore energy by 2030, of which 2 GW will be dedicated solely to the production of green hydrogen. Ports will play a critical part in achieving this ambition. In December 2021, a policy paper was published on the facilitation of offshore renewable energy by commercial ports in Ireland, which identified that four to five port facilities, each capable of delivering 500 MW of renewable capacity annually, will be required for deployment activity and multiple ports, both on the east and west coast, will be needed for operation and maintenance operations.

My Department continues to encourage engagement between the ports and ORE developers and in 2022, the ports' co-ordination group was established to co-ordinate port responses and maintain policy in the development of ORE. The ports co-ordination group continues to meet, with the next meeting scheduled for today.

Following the Government decision on 14 September 2022, prioritising efforts across all Departments in relation to planning and consents relating to ORE, a new division was established in my Department focusing in particular on work to facilitate offshore renewable energy at ports in Ireland, including funding options. While ports currently receive no Exchequer funding, EU funding of port infrastructure for ORE is available for ports, or terminals within ports, on the Trans-European Transport Network, TEN-T. Ports on the TEN-T network are eligible to apply for Connecting Europe Facility, CEF, funding towards their infrastructure developments, with the potential for up to 50% of eligible costs for studies and up to 30% of infrastructure work costs.

The latest CEF call for funding closed on 18 January 2023 with the results expected in June 2023. This is a competitive process which is heavily oversubscribed. I cannot comment on applications, due to EU stipulations regarding confidentiality, during the assessment process or confirm who has or has not applied. I can confirm, however, that the Department of Transport has assisted eligible applicants as appropriate with the application process. Furthermore, my Department continues to engage with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, the European Investment Bank, EIB, and the European Commission, regarding the availability of funding and financing options for ports in providing the necessary ORE infrastructure. I will come back again.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I would appreciate if the Minister of State came back on this. I could have read that response, because it is exactly the same as a written response I received a number of weeks ago.

This is something I have been pursuing, month after month and season after season, in the Dáil at Question Time. I am deeply concerned about this. What I am hearing from the Government is that we have a task force for the delivery of onshore renewables; we have a ports co-ordination group; and we are pointing ports towards highly competitive funding and encouraging them to meet with developers. We are also engaging with ISIF and the EIB. There are engagements ongoing but none of this indicates that we are in control of this or that we are going to meet targets and be ready to deliver on this infrastructure, which is desperately needed. In the Minister of State's engagement with ISIF, the EIB and the EU Commission, what is being said on both sides?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I was about to go into detail on that. As I have said, my Department continues to engage with ISIF and the EIB regarding the availability of funding and financing options for ports in providing the necessary ORE infrastructure. Clearly, there are challenges beyond funding to achieve our ambitions. It will require improvements to the planning process, which the Government is trying to advance, as well as the introduction of appropriate regulatory frameworks, the establishment of a cohesive supply chain and skills capability, including ecological and environmental, and enhancements to the national grid.

To this end, a national task force has been established by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications to focus efforts across the system on delivering offshore wind energy. The task force brings together senior representatives from key Departments and agencies. The development of port infrastructure is a core objective, and my Department is working very closely with this task force.

The latest round of the CEF fund will be very important in the context of overall financing and developments. We cannot comment on specific ports, except to say that we have assisted eligible applicants in that regard. A decision on financing will be made in June 2023. In parallel, we are trying to accelerate the reforms across our planning system. The Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA, has been established in respect of consents.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I accept that there is activity here and that it is not all about funding, but if the funding is not there, the deck of cards will fall and we will not be in a position to deliver on it. We know Irish ports have applied for TEN-T and CEF funding and have been completely unsuccessful in securing funding. While we hope the applications are successful, we cannot put all our eggs into that basket.

One of the clear differences here compared to other places, as the Minister of State said, is that Exchequer funding is not provided to Irish ports. Is consideration being given to changing that position? We know that in other states, municipalities and other local areas across Europe, very significant state funding is provided. It may be provided in an indirect way through local authorities or municipalities and not directly by the state. Surely, there is the opportunity, given the importance of this issue, to look at every option.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Irish ports are at various stages of development in advancing renewable energy, RE, infrastructural projects. It is only when the respective business cases are completed that any funding gap can then be identified. Ensuring developers and ports collaborate is of paramount importance. Current Government policy is that Irish ports receive no Exchequer funding, with the State only stepping in when there is evidence of market failure. This is in line with Article 107(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Evidence to suggest there will be market failure, with regard to the development of RE infrastructure in Irish ports, has not yet been established.

NewERA is assessing the RE development plans of Irish ports and the capacity to fund these plans. Once full business cases have been received from ports, NewERA will be in a position to determine the commercial viability of these projects and consider whether State intervention is required. That is the pathway for deciding on whether State funding will be required but we have to-----

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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There are lots of international examples in other states.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, but market failure has to be determined in accordance with Article 107.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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Other countries have managed to find a way around that.