Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for bringing the Bill to the House. It is technical in nature, a tidying-up exercise resulting from a change in policy in how we manage our water systems. It brings to an end the sorry debacle that was the initial effort at charging for water. There are different views as to how that should have happened and I do not think we will ever reach a consensus on it but we are moving on and tidying up the legislative framework. That is to be welcomed.

This opens up an opportunity to start a debate around the decarbonisation of our gas networks, as the Minister of State has identified, how we intend to do that and where we intend to go with it. It is certainly something we need to look at in terms of becoming less dependent on imported fossil fuels. We saw the impact of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia two years ago and the impact that had across Europe. The increase in the price of gas, due to the way in which the Russian Federation manipulated the gas markets, created a scare. It sent, or if it did not, it should have sent, a signal to every country that there is no going back to Russian-provided or Russian-generated fossil fuels. We must become far more resilient.

To that end, I arranged a conference in Clare last Thursday and Friday on the future powering of Europe. Kadri Simson, the European Commissioner, was in attendance, as were a number of other environment ministers and ministers for transport. Many of the large energy companies across Europe had representatives there, as did energy users. The conference was aimed at having a collaborative discussion about the decarbonisation of our energy, not just our power grid but also from a liquid fuels perspective.

Not enough recognition is given to what the ESB is about. The Minister of State knows as does the Minister, Deputy Ryan but maybe the wider business ecosystem does not. I refer to recognition of the work that is under way and the vision the ESB has to generate electricity from floating offshore wind turbines. The real potential there is to be able to generate electricity for our own growing demand but also for a wider, growing European demand for electricity as we decarbonise and move towards electricity for some elements of transportation, for heat and for the generation of liquid fuels or gas. There is a plan to generate hydrogen through electrolysis in the Shannon Estuary, which can bring huge benefits not just through storage for use to generate electricity at times when the wind is not blowing but also as a liquid fuel from which derivatives can generated, such as sustainable aviation fuels or other fuel systems that can be used for our heat systems.

To that end, we need to advance more quickly in our ambition as a State and begin the process of capturing wind through floating offshore. I know that is expensive right now and the State's objective is to harness electricity in the south east and the south on those shallow beds where we can have fixed-bottom wind turbines in place. However, other countries such as Scotland, Portugal and Norway are moving in developing demonstrator projects on the floating offshore technologies. There is huge potential in terms of the scale of the wind that can be captured in the Atlantic to decarbonise not just elements of our network but right into Europe.Then there is the potential to develop the nascent technologies that can provide the jobs of the future. We could sit on our hands and wait until the technologies, particularly those relating to the pontoons or huge floating bases that will be required - there will be a need to manage and maintain these - have been developed. We will definitely benefit from the grid systems that exist across Europe to get that electricity at some point, but we will lose out by being late to the marketplace. Insofar as I can, I want to impress upon the Minister of State and the Government the importance of taking a leap of faith here and putting in place the upfront investment needed in the form of grant aid. Commissioner Simson was clear that there are moneys available in Europe if the Government is minded to work with the Commission to assist with early stage technologies. Such technologies are clearly not competitive. Offshore wind is not competitive. Onshore wind not competitive at the outset. In that context, we all made a contribution - via our electricity bills - towards making onshore wind market-ready. This was because it was far more expensive than the burning of coal, oil or gas at the time. We are in the same situation now. I am not suggesting that there needs to be a penalty imposed on energy users, particularly when we consider that energy prices have increased significantly. However, the State can set aside an amount of money that would help in the context of establishing the cost base that is needed to get a demonstrator project off the ground.

We also need to move very quickly on the designation of marine protection areas. There is a limited resource in this regard, but a number of local authorities have skill sets in house that they can deploy. Clare County Council has made it very clear to the Department that it is willing, able and technically resourced to do the designated maritime area plan work relating to the offshore potential that exists when it comes to the Atlantic. It will still be four or five years - maybe longer - before we see electrons coming ashore, that is for sure. However, let us not leave it so late that somebody can steal a march on us. The size and scale of the task are such that planning needs to start now and commitments need to be given now. It is time the Government made a commitment to floating offshore wind, put in place an appropriate amount of money to assist in delivering a demonstrator project of 400 MW and set in train the pilot project that will lead the way not only in the context of the sustainable provision of electricity to Ireland and parts of Europe but that will also provide the spare capacity at times when there is less demand from the grid to allow us to look at other opportunities. The latter could include generating hydrogen, as I said, or the powering of heavy industry that could be located in the region.

There has been much talk and, as the Minister of State knows, a great deal of pushback in certain quarters regarding data centres. To some, a data centre is merely something that is nice to have. Some people seem to suggest, for their own reasons, that these centres are just the constituent part that sits behind the folly that goes on in cyberspace, but they are not. They are, as was the case with what preceded them in the sixties and seventies, the advanced factories of the modern era.

The demand for office space is falling. I saw a report in The Daily Telegraphyesterday about the fact that the UK has decided that much of the office space it has will not be used in the future. Systems are being provided whereby office space can be converted into domestic accommodation. We are quickly reaching the same point, and that sends a signal that people are operating from the cloud rather than from office space. As a result, data centres are an important part of our future economic activity. If we can bring electricity ashore and ensure that these facilities are located close to source, we will not have to pull them off the grid further up the line, thus creating more stress and pressure on the already overloaded grid on the east coast.

I hope the Minister of State can think a little bit about this matter in due course and support those who are trying to advance the project in the mid-west that has been identified by the ESB and others.There is a company called Simply Blue Group that has done an amazing amount of work towards developing this resource and I hope it can get favourable Government support.