Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Senator Malcolm Byrne.

I welcome the Minister of State. It is a pleasure to have him here to discuss such an important initiative. He and I have discussed it in this House and elsewhere a number of times. I am fully supportive of the DMAP. I have been a believer in the capture of offshore wind for the generation of electricity for a long time. We have seen the difficulties in harnessing wind onshore. Many of the areas that are suitable have been reached, with many communities now refusing to accept wind turbines and developments getting clogged up in the courts. I can understand some communities’ perspective on this. There are people who just do not want wind turbines. That is their prerogative and the planning legislation is there to protect their interests. However, we still need electricity, including green electricity. We need to plan for the future and ensure that the next wave of economic development is provided for and the appropriate infrastructure is in place. There is an opportunity in what the Minister of State is doing here to address some of that need.

I do not wish to be overly critical or negative, but fixed-bottom wind capture offshore is a well-developed technology and we are coming to the race relatively late. We will be purchasing this equipment from overseas and, while that will help us meet our short-to-medium-term electricity demands, it will not be the answer for the future. I will pivot and compliment the Minister of State on achieving so much over the past number of years, but I am concerned that, as a Government, we have collectively failed to grasp the nettle of addressing the country’s floating offshore potential. We will need that electricity, not just for domestic consumption, but for international consumption as well. This relates to Senator Garvey’s comments about the opportunities off the west coast, given the area’s phenomenally high winds and capacity to generate vast volumes of electricity in the Atlantic Ocean well beyond the shoreline, and well beyond where anyone could mount an objection. I suspect that even Donald Trump, with his investment in Doonbeg, will have no issue. I am sorry, as I do not want to talk for that gentleman, but anyone with a sane mind should not have any objection so long as the appropriate marine protected areas are designated. They will not be visible from shore. We are talking about offshore distances of 32 km and greater.

The potential this sector has to power Ireland and Europe into the future is phenomenal. As a counterbalance to the feeling among people on the west coast of being left out, this can be a massive driver of economic activity. These are nascent technologies. While other countries are grappling with floating offshore technologies, we can get ahead. That said, we are coming from behind. Norway, Portugal, Scotland and other countries are also looking at these. The Minister of State and I discussed the matter when Equinor pulled out of its partnership with the ESB because it did not believe the project would move quickly enough. That has been a source of severe disappointment to me and many others who saw this sector as being one where we could get ahead. The wind farms will not come online tomorrow, next year or the year after – we are looking at 2030 or beyond – but the preparatory work has to begin now.In its dying days, the Government could put in place the kind of initiative where the State would support the 400 MW demonstrator project that all industry interests in this area suggest is needed. If we can show that initiative now, we will be rewarded by future generations for having the foresight to commit financial resources from this date to something that will benefit all at a later stage.