John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have the opportunity to discuss how important wind energy is to the Irish economy and what we have to do for the next few years. In preparation for this debate, I spoke to a friend of mine who is an expert in wind energy. She pointed out that harvesting our wind energy and decarbonising our economy will not only contribute to our energy security, but will contribute to the energy security of our neighbours, especially those on the European Continent. It will help them with the decarbonisation of their economies. That is the first thing that is important.

My friend also pointed out that the DMAPs are prepared with such consultation with local communities, ecologists and fishing communities that there is a huge amount of buy-in to them because the people on the ground who are sensitive to the issues and know what they are talking about are able to have an input.

Despite what newspapers reported Mark Ruffalo saying about Ireland this morning, Ireland has been very good at the transition we have seen in the past five years towards renewable energy. We have been doing it on such an unprecedented scale in recent years that it is something to behold. We are making that switch and upscaling at such a speed that the Government and the Irish people should be proud of it. Last week, I met a number of German politicians from Lower Saxony, who are at the forefront of the renewable energy drive and transition in Germany, as did others in the House, including Ministers and other Members of the Dáil. They quite rightly said that Ireland has the largest amount of the natural resource that is wind in Europe. We need to be able to learn from our European counterparts about how we can harvest it and have the proper infrastructure so that we can use it, not only to decarbonise our society but also to sell it to our European neighbours to help them with their decarbonisation. That is exactly what we have been doing in recent years with legislation and what we are doing with this motion.

I have been frank about this previously. Before I was elected to this House, I had a mild interest in this issue. I was then appointed as spokesperson on climate action. That was the best thing to happen to me in my four years here because I have developed a real understanding of and love for the issue. I have been very clear. What we need to do is exactly what the Government is doing. We need to make the transition to renewable energy as simple as possible for people and ensure the best possible financial incentives are available to people. If we are able to do that, the average man and woman on the street of every provincial town and city on the island of Ireland will want to get on board with it. What we are doing here is ensuring we are making that transition in a smart and credible way.

Climate action is not about the idea of the Government telling people they need to do certain things because the world is on fire and they are the right things to do. It is about selling the message that this is where the world is moving in terms of job creation and the economy. We can now be a hub for green technology and enterprise in the European Union. We are a small island on the edge of Europe and yet we can have a green revolution in respect of job creation and infrastructure. I make no bones about it, much of that is because of the Green Party's ability to get things done in government in the past four years. As a result of the Green Party being in this coalition, we have been able to push the green agenda. I therefore take the opportunity to congratulate the Minister of State and his Green Party colleagues on their work over the past four years.

In a nutshell, what I want to say is that wind energy has many benefits for the country. We were slow to the ball about it for a number of years with regard to infrastructure and everything else. Scotland and other countries got a head start on us, but we are scaling up now at such an unprecedented rate that we have the ability not only to catch up with but to surpass other countries and become an absolute leader in wind energy in the European Union and in Europe. I am proud to be part of a Government that is doing that. What this will do is increase our energy security. We have seen why that is important with the war in Ukraine and war elsewhere in the globe in the past two years. It will create green jobs, especially for people in coastal communities, and will act as a source of income. We can help other countries with decarbonisation.

I am pleased to see this motion and the huge amount of work the Government has done in wind energy. It is a valuable commodity that we have a lot of.We now need to start to make sure we harvest that energy we use to meet our 2030 and 2050 climate targets and that we can help other European Union countries do the same and decarbonise their economies and societies as well.