Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, to the Chamber. We are entering a quite exciting renewables phase. The technology is advancing and the opportunity to generate renewable electricity, particularly off the west coast, is evident to everybody. In recent weeks, the Taoiseach referred to the cost-of-living crisis, particularly the energy crisis we now face, and acknowledged what we all know is a fact, that is, that we are in for a difficult seven or eight years ahead. This will mean the decarbonisation of our energy production when there is energy price inflation. One solution, as advocated by the Government, is to become more self-sufficient and produce more of our own energy, and to do so through renewables such as offshore wind. This will be the key to generating more electricity domestically and having a more sustainable supply for ourselves that we can say is green and decarbonises the economy.

Many people, following the Taoiseach's comments and others by the Government, were asking where the Government's strategy on offshore wind energy is. They were asking about our plan of action for the rest of this year, next year, the short term, the medium term and the long term. We realise there is a technological challenge but we also know the technology exists. Other countries are already using it, so there is no reason we cannot do the same. We can become a net exporter of energy if we do the right thing and put the right investment and infrastructure in place. We need to manage the environmental impacts of putting wind turbines in the sea, and we also need to work with our fishermen, fisherwomen and fishing communities to make sure they are not negatively impacted. I am sure we can achieve the right balance in this regard, working closely with them. People are now looking for hope. They are looking to see what the Government is doing to deal with the energy crisis at a time when energy costs are rising. We know we are too vulnerable when it comes to sources of energy from outside our own country, and we also know we burn too much fossil fuel in this country to generate electricity.

With these two points in mind, it would be welcome to hear about the Government's strategy and what we aspire to achieve as a country in the coming years, particularly along the west coast. I am from County Mayo. From having lived there, I can attest that it is one of the windiest counties in the country, but the opportunities are immense. We have a vast coastline. The same applies to Clare, Galway, Sligo and Donegal. There are immense opportunities for offshore wind energy generation, but it will be expensive and require a significant State investment to put the infrastructure in place, work with communities and work to ensure we can achieve our goal of being more self-sustaining and self-sufficient in the production of our energy.

I acknowledge that we have particular planning difficulties associated with many of these initiatives. This will have to be addressed. I would welcome the Minister of State's comments on how we are to deal with the planning process for wind turbines, particularly because offshore wind energy will present new challenges that we may not have dealt with in planning for renewable energy sources previously.

I have a question about the grid. There is little point in producing vast amounts of electricity offshore if we cannot transfer it to the national grid. We are aware that we have considerable vulnerabilities in the grid, particularly in the west. I understand and acknowledge that EirGrid has been invested in significantly in recent weeks to increase capacity, but ambition in this regard to match our ambitions for increasing renewable energy seems to be lacking. We have to match our ambitions with investment in the grid so the two can work together.

Could the Minister of State talk about the strategy for the short and medium terms, the level of investment by the State to realise it, the percentage of our energy we expect to derive from offshore wind and how we are going to deal with grid capacity to capitalise on the energy we produce?