Dee Ryan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I would like to reflect comments already made about the reassuring, calm approach that the Tánaiste has taken this morning. That has been echoed in all the Ministers' comments which I have heard on the media this morning and in President Ursula von der Leyen's comments too. The cool heads which are approaching this trade issue and potential trade war are most welcome. We have to control the controllables, which is why this Government's commitment to investment in infrastructure is more important than ever, with rapid, accelerated delivery of water, grid and rail. It is crucial to ensure our competitiveness. I would add regional air access to that list. Our membership of the EU and our access to the EU marketplace are critical. We need to support not just the companies that exist today but also our start-ups and companies of the future so they have the opportunity to be as competitive as possible. We have to ensure they have direct access to our EU marketplace from right across the country, not just the east coast. I am thinking specifically of Limerick and the mid-west, where Shannon Airport does not have year-round daily business connectivity to the EU marketplace. I will speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, and Minister, Deputy O'Brien, about that in the future to ensure we are supporting competitiveness and connectivity.

Not to be trite, but we cannot waste this crisis. It presents us with the opportunity to refocus on other opportunities for economic development and independence. I am talking, of course, about the opportunity for floating offshore wind development on our west coast. We must prioritise the designation of zoning in our west coast deep waters to ensure that floating offshore wind with the potential not just to decarbonise our own electricity system but also to export energy into Europe and to generate income for the country through a new source of revenue is accelerated. That will mean accelerating designated maritime area plans, DMAPs, of the west coast and investing in our ports.