Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I know he has form in this area because we served on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council together for many years. He has always been a champion of the utilisation of offshore wind and the enormous opportunities that presents. He has been consistent.

What are we doing here today? We have been asked to approve a motion which states:

That Seanad Éireann approves the draft South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan for Offshore Renewable Energy, a copy of which was laid before Seanad Éireann on 26th September, 2024.

I commend the Minister of State on his work and on the motion. It has been controversial. I have attended many meetings. One thing that is constantly happening in connection with this issue is that we are always learning. We do not cease to learn in this area. I was in County Galway some years ago when the Minister, Deputy Ryan, was expressing ambitions in respect of this matter. Much has changed in the few intervening years.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge that I researched the paper that was prepared. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which carried out the pre-legislative scrutiny on the relevant legislation. There were a substantial number of recommendations. Not all of them were incorporated in their pure form, but reasons were given for them.Pre-legislative scrutiny is not the be all and end all, though, as it is only done by an Oireachtas committee and the ultimate decisions are made on the floors of the Chambers based on, in this case, the Minister of State's drive, ambition, determination and ability to communicate. I commend him in that regard.

The Library and Research Service mentioned in the latest edition of its commentary that there had been no regulatory assessment of the final recommendations. I do not know the reason for this. Was it a conscious decision by the Minister of State? How did an assessment fall through? Is a regulatory assessment a statutory requirement? I would have expected this to be something the Minister of State would have liked to happen, but there may be good reasons for its absence, for example, timelines. He might touch on this matter.

Ireland’s offshore wind resources present a considerable opportunity to provide more affordable, clean and secure energy for our local communities, which is critical if the plan is to be a success. Wind energy lowers wholesale electricity prices, leading to lower electricity prices for the Irish customer. It will reduce our dependence on imported oil and gas and our exposure to price increases caused by the significant international political upheavals going on all around us and their associated risks. It will also contribute to our energy security, a matter that the Minister of State has discussed constantly, by increasing the supply of clean electricity produced in Ireland.

Ireland’s offshore wind resources present us with an opportunity to meet our climate action targets. I will not go into those in any great detail other than to say that our climate action plan includes a target of increasing the share of electricity generated from renewable energy resources to 80% by 2030. The Government is committed to working towards that target. Currently, we are at approximately 40%, so we have a long way to go even though 2030 is not that far away.

Ireland’s offshore wind resources present significant opportunities to deliver jobs. If there is any weakness in this debate, it is that we have not driven home the importance of the sector’s spin-offs. This is about delivering jobs, long-term investment and benefits to coastal communities. Coastal communities – I live in one – are precious about and protective of their coasts. The Minister of State knows this, as he represents a coastal community himself. He did likewise while in local government when he was at the heart of one of the country’s finest harbours and coastlines. There will be jobs in the construction phase, in the permanent operations, in the maintenance and in all the other ongoing works.

As the Minister of State mentioned, the approval of the south coast DMAP will enable a new offshore wind energy auction. I hope that will take place early next year. We have come a long way. Five years ago, many people believed this was pi in the sky stuff, but we are on course to hold an auction next year. It may be set back, but given that we are so close to that time, the Minister of State might comment on the matter.

The DMAP recognises the need to share Ireland’s maritime space – we have gone through that in terms of our planning, various Bills and the agenda the Government has pursued over the past four and a half years – in a manner that is sensitive to maritime biodiversity. The critics and environmentalists, including many of the Green Party’s members, followers and voters, were particularly exercised about this, and rightly so. I was, too. We cannot emphasise enough how important maritime biodiversity is. If we are going to sell this process, we need people, including our coastal communities, to buy into it. People need to see the tangible benefits. Our social and economic concerns go hand in hand with our concerns over biodiversity. No one aspect predominates over another. They are all important aspects and they need to be taken on board.

As the Minister of State has said time and again, we have a responsibility in the global climate emergency and we have to play our part. Sometimes, we say our part is too small, but every bit counts. This is an investment in a sector that will grow. This is about our energy security. There is great potential. Ireland has an opportunity to be a global leader in wind energy and at the forefront of wind energy innovation and development. We are in good stead with this legislation. There were issues with it, but the Minister of State and the Government have arrived at something that is tangible, workable and a source to be built on and goes some way towards securing our energy.

I am supportive of this important motion. I commend the Minister of State on driving this matter. I commend his and his party’s work in this regard. It is one of the areas where his party has a distinct edge over everyone else. Unfortunately, I must attend another meeting, but the Minister of State might touch on the regulatory impact assessment and why it was deemed not necessary. It was an issue that was flagged in the Library and Research Service’s paper. I thank the Library and Research Service and the Minister of State’s team for the work they have done on this matter.