Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
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I move:

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.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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On behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, I welcome this opportunity to seek the support of Senators for Ireland's first forward spatial plan for offshore renewable energy. The draft designated maritime area plan, DMAP, identifies four maritime areas for accelerated and sustainable development of offshore wind off the south coast of Ireland over the next decade. If approved by the Oireachtas, this will represent a landmark event in forward spatial planning in this country. It will signal a fundamental change in how we manage and plan our extensive maritime area.

Protecting the marine environment and biodiversity while supporting citizens who are reliant on the sea for their livelihoods has been central to the creation of this draft plan. It has also been established in co-operation with local communities along the south coast through extensive, wide-reaching and effective consultation. By providing a long-term source of secure indigenous green energy, the south coast DMAP and similar future spatial plans for areas around our coasts will ensure that we in Ireland continue to play our part in addressing the escalating global climate emergency. It is a further response to the twin challenges of energy security and affordability. It will spur regional development and economic opportunities along the south coast and throughout the wider economy.

The motion is the culmination of a successful programme of legislative and policy achievements over the last four years to establish a robust framework for offshore renewable energy development in Ireland. In 2021, Ireland established its first national maritime spatial plan, known as the national maritime planning framework, the NMPF, and legislated to positively change the management of our seas and oceans through the enactment of the Maritime Area Planning Act. This Act created the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority to manage and regulate sustainable activities within our seas and oceans. A further pivotal moment in our clean energy transitions was signalled by the result of Ireland's first offshore wind auction in 2023. This auction procured more than 3,000 MW of potential future offshore wind capacity, enough to power 2.5 million Irish homes with green, secure and affordable energy. To capture the full associated economic opportunities, Powering Prosperity: Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy was published by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment last March. This ambitious strategy puts the development of offshore renewables at the heart of Ireland's economic growth in the years and decades to come. To co-ordinate and drive the effective delivery of this new sector in Ireland, an all-of-government offshore wind delivery task force was established in 2022. This is successfully mobilising our society to capture this once-in-a-generation opportunity.

Last year, a new plan-led approach to offshore renewable development was adopted by Government with the overwhelming support of the Oireachtas. Members of this House informed Government that they no longer wanted a developer-led system and that the designation of appropriate development areas should be led by the State. This decision determines that future offshore wind projects should be located within DMAPs. We have listened and reacted, and the preparation of the DMAP for the south coast gives effect to this decision. It will also align Ireland with similar plan-led approaches in other European jurisdictions, including the Netherlands, Denmark and the UK, the leading global practitioners in offshore wind.We are fortunate to have already legislated for this approach through the Maritime Area Planning Act. I thank Senators for their leadership in having the foresight to ensure the legislative and regulatory system was in place.

Through evidence-based analysis, the draft DMAP identified four maritime areas for sustainable deployment of fixed offshore wind off the coasts of counties Waterford and Wexford over the coming decade. This includes a maritime area known as Tonn Nua, which is identified for a 900 MW project to be built by the winner of Ireland's second offshore wind auction. This will commence next year, with terms and conditions to be published following adoption of this DMAP. This first offshore wind project will contribute to the wider objective that 80% of our electricity needs will come from renewable sources by the end of this decade.

Fixed offshore wind projects located in the additional three maritime areas will deploy beyond this decade to deliver on our legally binding commitment to achieve a carbon neutral economy no later than 2050. These projects will also bolster the energy security of Ireland, safeguarding the electricity needs of our homes, hospitals and businesses. While the preparation of this draft plan has been led by officials from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, it has been developed as a collaborative cross-government plan supported by expert environmental and technical analysis. It has been further informed by robust environmental assessments and prevents development taking place in those areas of greatest sensitivity. Crucially, the draft DMAP has been shaped by wide-reaching engagement with local coastal communities and key stakeholders. This continuous engagement has been facilitated through full-time, locally based fishing and community liaison officers. I am pleased to say that the overwhelming sentiment during consultation from people living in these areas was positive. There was an eagerness to capture opportunities that can be accrued locally by this new industry, for this and future generations to benefit from. Maximising opportunities for successful coexistence with other marine users has been a core objective throughout the process. Local fishers have accordingly been extensively consulted over the past 12 months and have positively shaped the preparation of this DMAP.

The new plan-led approach adopted by Government will deliver certainty to coastal communities and existing maritime users. It will also bring certainty to Ireland's burgeoning offshore wind industry, the investment decisions of which will accelerate decarbonisation of our society and our economy. In that regard, the clear evidence from other jurisdictions illustrates the transformative economic impacts arising from offshore wind supply chain development. Independent analysis on the south coast DMAP highlights that a significant majority of these opportunities in the form of inward investment and sustainable job creation will accrue directly to counties Cork, Waterford and Wexford. This plan will be a harbinger of regional development, economic opportunity and societal gain. While the motion before Senators today is the south coast's opportunity, it is critical that this will be followed by other DMAPs over the coming years and future DMAPs must and will focus on emerging floating technology, notably off our western seaboard.

Approval of the motion will give effect to the plan-led approach to offshore renewable development in Ireland supported by this House in May 2023. The subject matter of the motion is of strategic national importance.

Róisín Garvey (Green Party)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stait go dtí an Teach. I welcome the motion. It is great to see progress finally being made. What is envisaged should probably have happened about 20 years ago. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has been pushing for this for a long time. What is envisaged will hopefully lead to our becoming energy independent and self-sufficient country. Not only that, Ireland will hopefully become a net exporter of energy, which would be great.

The motion is required in order for the Minister to finalise the designated maritime area plan. These are the plans required for the creation of offshore wind farms in particular areas and show compliance with relevant legislation, such as the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021. The DMAP is a significant step forward in the realisation of Ireland's huge offshore wind generation potential. This type of generation will help us to decarbonise our economy and electrify every aspect of our lives, from cars to home heating, by 2035. It would mean an to the huge hikes in energy prices of the type we have seen in recent years due to the war in Ukraine and other issues that are outside our control. We will finally be able to control our energy source and the cost of energy. In Government, the Minister, Deputy Ryan, has completed public consultations, created the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, passed necessary legislation and held the first auctions for companies to start construction and then production of immense amounts of clean, green energy off our coasts. The passage of this motion will allow for the continued certainty and planning for the deployment of wind energy off Ireland's south coast, allowing us to start tapping the almost limitless free, clean energy that can be generated there. It is envisioned that we will be generating 37 GW of capacity from our offshore wind assets by 2050, which will make us a major energy player on the European grid and a world leader in offshore generation. This is a positive motion.

Ireland is now in compliance with almost all the relevant EU law on marine development, from the marine strategy framework directive to the maritime spatial planning directive. A great deal of this work has been brought across the line by the Green Party Minister, Deputy Ryan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, building on the work of previous Governments. Initial public consultation and public meetings took place in May and June 2023 with events in counties Cork, Wexford and Waterford and three online webinars. Public consultation events took place throughout southern counties between August and October of last year, particularly in areas with large numbers of people working in the fishing industry. This was followed by a statutory consultation, a meeting of the southern regional assembly, meetings with affected councils and even a briefing for TDs in May this year. There has been a major level of consultation. I say that lest we are accused of rushing things forward - as is often the case - despite hundreds of hours of consultation and work taking place.

If approved by the Oireachtas, what is proposed in the motion will represent a landmark event in forward spatial planning in this country. It will signal a fundamental change in how we manage and plan our extensive maritime area. Protecting the marine environment and biodiversity while supporting citizens reliant on the sea for their livelihoods has been central to the creation of this draft plan. This is mainly because the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, who is probably the number one protector of marine life and biodiversity on land, has been working hand in hand with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, on this. It has also been established in co-operation with local communities along the south coast through extensive, wide-reaching and effective consultation.

A further pivotal moment in our clean energy transition was signalled by the results of Ireland's first offshore wind auction in 2023. This auction procured more than 3,000 MW of potential future offshore wind capacity to power 2.5 million Irish homes with green, secure and affordable energy.

Overall, the motion is welcome. I hope it gets the support of the entire House. Who does not want our island to be energy self-sufficient? It is a long time coming. It is great that we have pushed it forward this far and our colleagues in Government have supported us in the work we have been doing on this.

I have two questions for the Minister of State. There is a marine protected areas Bill due. How will this dovetail with the legislation on marine protected areas? Until we have the marine protected areas completely defined, we have to make sure we put the right wind farms in the right places. I am from County Clare. We have Moneypoint, with lots of already existing infrastructure and good grid connection. Will the Minister of State provide update on what is happening with regard to offshore wind generation in County Clare?

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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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.

Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)
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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.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to this important debate.

I share the concerns of my colleague, Senator Dooley, about whether we are moving quickly enough. The State's objective is that we will have 5 GW of offshore wind energy connected to the grid by the end of 2030. In his concluding remarks, will the Minister of State indicate whether he is still committed to that objective and, more important, how realistic it is? It is an important goal for the country, because we will have green energy, it will be a jobs creator and it is vital for energy security. I accept that many of the measures have taken time to put in place and while I compliment some of our Green Party colleagues in government, I remind Senator Garvey that it was the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who established the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, which I am glad is located in Wexford. There is a deep Government commitment to developing offshore wind energy and we need to support it.

I will raise two issues. The first relates to the Powering Prosperity report the Minister of State mentioned. It is quite comprehensive. An element of it was about the development of regulatory sandboxes for offshore wind technology, which were due to be put in place by the second quarter of next year. Will the Minister of State update us on how that might develop, if not today at some other time? It was one of the clear recommendations of the Powering Prosperity report. Regulatory sandboxes can work effectively with new technology. We have seen it in some areas of fintech. In the area of offshore wind energy, it may allow us to trial new things without moving into a bigger space.

As Senator Dooley and the Minister of State mentioned, the second issue is the employment opportunities and how transformational this industry will be. There will be a huge range of jobs available and they will not only be in engineering; we will need maritime lawyers, marine biologists and people in communications. It is critical that we start to invest now in upskilling people to be able to avail of these opportunities and to encourage young people at second level to pursue career options in these fields.

I was particularly glad that Wind Energy Ireland recently hosted the first ever wind careers fair in Gorey, targeting schools along the east coast and in the south east, showing the potential of jobs in this sector. A wide range of employment opportunities will be available. One of the things I found heartening when I spoke to some of the students leaving the careers fair was the number of them who said they had thought it was all about engineering. It is about a hell of a lot more. We need to have a much more coherent strategy. I appreciate that the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has done some work on this, but we need to outline the number of jobs we envisage will be available in this sector and start to prepare now. There is no point starting in 2030 when the planning permission has been granted and a number of these projects are up and running, as then we will have serious skills shortages in the area. This is a significant motion and I hope it will get cross-party support.

John McGahon (Fine Gael)
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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.

Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister of State. While Sinn Féin will vote in favour of this motion, concerns remain regarding how long it has taken to deliver. If this is the pace the Government is going with, we will never meet our 2030 targets, let alone achieve energy independence on this island. After 15 long months, we finally have a plan for offshore wind on the south coast. Although the delay was unacceptable In delivering the south coast DMAP, we recognise the important economic opportunity this represents - €3 billion to the counties of Waterford, Cork and Wexford over the lifetime of the offshore wind projects and, potentially, 32,000 jobs. We know that offshore renewable energy represents a momentous opportunity for this island. We cannot afford to wait another 15 months for the next DMAP. How long will Shannon Foynes Port wait for a DMAP? We met the management of that port some months back and I could not begin to describe the levels of frustration it had with this Government and its slow pace of progress.

Ireland sits on the biggest natural offshore wind resource in Europe, with some 640 GW of untapped energy potential. Despite other countries having forged ahead, this potential remains largely untapped. While other EU countries were out developing offshore wind energy, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael prevaricated and dragged their feet. Decades of bad planning, mismanagement and inaction have resulted in so much lost opportunity. We are finally starting to make progress. This south coast DMAP is an important part of that. However, serious issues remain that pose risks to the development of offshore wind here such as, for example, in planning, the grid and offshore renewable electricity support scheme auctions. It is largely accepted that Ireland will miss our 2030 targets in offshore renewable energy.

The south coast designated marine area plan is Ireland's first spatial plan for offshore renewable energy generation. It identifies four maritime areas off the south coast in offshore renewable energy proposed to take place over the next decade. The four maritime areas are located off the Waterford, Wexford and Cork coasts. The proposed development of offshore renewable energy presents significant opportunities for regional economic development. According to independent analysis, there is potential for almost €3 billion to the counties of Waterford, Cork and Wexford over the lifetime of the offshore wind projects. The analysis estimated that the implementation of the DMAP could result in the creation of more than 32,000 direct full-time annual jobs in the south coast region. Ireland has a target of 5 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 37 GW of offshore wind by 2050. A recent offshore renewable energy skills assessment report produced for Green Tech Skillnet and Wind Energy Ireland found that meeting our target of 37 GW of offshore wind energy by 2050 could be worth €38 billion to the Irish economy. It will also open up tens of thousands of new jobs.

However, in order to seize this opportunity, some serious issues must be addressed. The first is Ireland's broken planning system. It is slow, adversarial and racked full of uncertainty. These problems are so acute that many renewable energy projects do not make it off the ground. Renewables projects are stuck in at the planning system for an average of 92 weeks. At a certain point last year, no new projects had been approved for 14 months. At the end of June, 30 projects totalling more than 1.7 GW were in front of An Bord Pleanála awaiting a decision on wind developments. The second issue is grid constraints as a barrier to Ireland's green energy revolution. Ireland's electricity grid is not fit for purpose. It barely manages to cope with its current load and is certainly not fit to handle the ambition of creating an energy secure and independent Ireland. Since 2016, constraint levels in the north west, for example, have risen from 2.3% to 11.4%. In the west, it has risen from 0.3% to 8.8%, while in the North we see the highest levels of constraints, going from 2.3% in 2016 to 14.6% in 2023. This is all lost energy. It could have been used to cook meals, run milking parlours, charge cars or even just to boil the kettle. Instead, these wind farms had to stop generating or reduce generation and that electricity came from gas instead. The more constraints on our grid increase, the more carbon emissions we produce and the higher our bills because of the gas generation brought on to replace the constrained wind farms. This is only set to get worse as we attempt to get more renewables on the system.

The third issue is Ireland's fledgling port infrastructure. Ireland's port infrastructure represents yet another monumental challenge when it comes to hitting our 2030 offshore targets. As it stands, there is only one port on this island, Belfast Port, with the capacity to deliver offshore renewable energy infrastructure. However, over the past two years it has been completely taken over by projects in Britain. No other port is ready for offshore wind in Ireland, placing a large question mark over just how we will deliver on our targets. The next issue is unpredictable and expensive auctions for renewable energy. The renewable energy support scheme is an auction-based process which invites renewable energy projects to compete against each other to win contracts to provide electricity at a guaranteed price. There have been four onshore options to date and just one for offshore wind. However, these auctions have been plagued with problems and are largely regarded as yet another barrier to developing renewable energy here. Auctions are not happening in the timelines set out by the Government nor do they deliver the amount of power required to meet our 2030 targets. The prices they set are very high compared with other European countries, meaning that consumer bills will remain high. As these prices are index linked, they are set to rise in the future. As recently as July 2023, the Government aimed to hold ORESS 2.1 before the end of 2023 with final results in early 2024. It now seems likely the auction will not be held until the middle of 2025 with results taking a further few months. Planning applications will not be submitted until late 2026.

Sinn Féin has a suite of measures to accelerate the development of offshore wind. Some of our priorities include addressing Ireland's fledgling grid capacity and enabling Ireland's ports for the development of offshore wind. Our alternative budget this year proposed the establishment of a new renewable energy investment fund. It is shocking that the Government had nothing in last week's budget for ports or the grid. In planning, we proposed a significant uptick in resourcing of State bodies such as An Bord Pleanála and the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority. We would also review the auction timelines with a view to speeding them up. We welcome and support this motion but frankly the pace is far too slow. We are light years behind other parts of Europe. At the end of this Government's lifetime, it is not good enough.

Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Chair. To clarify a point by the previous speaker, in budget 2025 the Government specifically addressed investment in the grid and in infrastructure and specifically allocated money from the sale of AIB. That was very much addressed in the budget.

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. It is welcome to have an opportunity to discuss offshore wind and its potential. It will come as no surprise that I support the motion. I am pleased to see the DMAP for the south coast but that is with a tinge of frustration because we do not yet have a DMAP for the west coast. I express that frustration in the Chamber today. Fixed-bottom floating wind is of course easier to deliver but will not deliver the energy needs Ireland will have now or in the future. It will not do everything we need in addressing our 2030 or 2050 targets. It is deeply frustrating as somebody from Mayo who knows the wind resource off the west coast - the second best wind corridor in the world - that we have not even started to map the west coast. I cannot get a clear answer as to why we cannot begin the preparatory work and DMAP process. I make a call that we accelerate the DMAP process and produce DMAPs for the entire coast. The west coast is where it is at. I am talking about Clare, up into Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal. That is where Ireland's best wind resource is. This is Ireland's gold if only somebody in the Department and the Minister would pull the starting trigger and let us get started. With the zoning of the south coast, I must ask specifically why have we not moved to map the west coast? Will the Minister of State please give a clear answer? The Minister repeatedly said the technology is not available yet or we cannot deploy turbines off the west coast yet. I disagree but that is beside the point. We are not even talking about deploying turbines today, tomorrow or even in the next two to three years because we are not ready. Even if the technology was available right now, we are not ready to put them in because we have not started the planning process.To know that resource is there and nobody even wants to move on it is hugely frustrating. I want to challenge the notion that the technology is not there. Why then is the ESB, a semi-State body, investing in a floating offshore project in Scotland today? Why did Equinor partner with the ESB for a project off the west coast and then pull out because of the regulatory uncertainty? Equinor is a world leader in floating offshore technology so it is not me saying it. Experts working in that field are saying it and they want it to move. The importance of the DMAP for the west coast is that it tells developers and investors that we are open for business and this is where they can invest. I am not sure why we are not moving on it.

The Minister of State mentioned the supply chain development in this space, which is a really important point. The opportunity for the west coast, such as where I live in Mayo, and in our most disadvantaged region of the west and north west, is there if we are an early adopter and if we move early. Even if we move today, we are not going to be the first out because France, Portugal, Spain, the UK and the Nordic countries are already doing it while we are still waiting to get started. If we get moving, however, we can develop the skills base, the supply chains, the infrastructure and the technology, not just to deploy the offshore floating turbines but everything that goes with that, here. That is the opportunity for the west coast.

We can have an energy park in Mayo. We have the Corrib gas field that will eventually need a second lease of life. It is ideal for a hydrogen or green energy plant on the west coast. Yes, we need to improve our infrastructure and the EirGrid. I was pleased to see an announcement of significant money set aside for that purpose but the money needs to go to the west coast because that is where it is needed.

We need to improve our ports and our infrastructure but Foynes, as a deep water port, is ideally placed to deal with floating offshore wind projects and get those turbines onto the west coast. The infrastructure is there. I know the Minister, Deputy Ryan, was there when they Shannon Estuary task force published its report some two years ago and he said himself, "Let us build it now." We have not even started mapping or planning it. It is again deeply frustrating.

My vision for Mayo and the west coast is that we will become a world leader in floating offshore wind. Not only do we fuel industry, agriculture and our homes, we have more than ten times Ireland's energy needs sitting off the west coast if only we would harness it. We can then move to actually exporting to Europe and assist Europe in that stated ambition to have better energy security and more a more sustainable supply of green energy. We can make sure we never have a situation when the Russians turn off the tap, we are worried about keeping the lights on. That happened two years ago. We saw the impact on every house in this country when bills went through the roof and this Government stepped in to ease the burden and ensure households were able to, for the most part, meet those bills. Energy security and affordable energy is really important.

We had a discussion on the Order of Business on data centres. I acknowledge the Minister of State's party has a particular view on data centres but data centres are part of life now because we live online. We do everything online from banking to social protection and that is how we run the country. We need somewhere to the store that data because everyone is looking at their phones and their tablets. Amazon is investing €30 billion in data centres and Ireland is not included because of its hostility to data centres. The real crux of the issue is energy supply. We need a source of green, sustainable energy. Heretofore, Ireland's competitive advantage was that we had a corporate tax rate that was attractive as well as being part of the European Union and having an educated and skilled workforce. What will be our unique selling point, USP, in the decades ahead to continue to attract foreign direct investment and maintain the FDI we have? What these companies want is green, sustainable energy. If Ireland is not providing it, somewhere else will and that is where they will go to invest, develop new industries and set up new companies. I want to see another Baxter coming to Castlebar, another Hollister coming to Ballina and another AbbVie setting up in Westport because we have the industrial base there. We have the energy sitting off the west coast. Why are we not mapping the west coast? What is the hold-up?

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I listened to everything the Senators had to say and I am glad there is cross-party support for the motion. I will start with Senator Garvey who asked about offshore wind in County Clare. Moneypoint has a huge grid connection and will be part of the future renewable energy grid and electricity supply of our country so where does it fit in? Unsurprisingly, Senator Timmy Dooley also asked about Clare and in fact, a DMAP, which will start next year, is being prepared for the county. Clare has not been forgotten and will certainly be part of the future.

Senator Garvey also asked about marine protected areas, MPAs. The MPA legislation is at an advanced stage of development by the Department of housing. In advance of the enactment of this legislation, the MPA advisory group of independent experts conducted an ecological sensitivity analysis of the Celtic Sea, which was published in June 2024. The central objective of this analysis was to provide spatial recommendations for potential future MPA designations in the Celtic Sea, which will inform decisions regarding the location of offshore wind developments. This advisory group highlighted minimal overlap between these areas identified for possible future MPA designations and the four maritime areas in the draft south coast DMAP. The draft DMAP includes provisions that all offshore wind developments must have regard to future protected site designations and new, improved environmental data. This will include possible future MPA designations by the Minister for housing.

The process of making a DMAP starts with working out where is the best place for one. It is a plan-led system rather than developer-led. The State sits down and tries to work out where is the best place to put a cluster of wind farms. Where are the shipping lanes, where are the subsea cables and where are the sensitive environmental areas? There is a draft SPA, which has not gone into effect yet, off the south east coast of County Wexford. That area has been specifically excluded. By working with the expert advisers who will recommend the marine protected areas, all the potential areas that could be MPAs were excluded from the DMAP. That is really the process of making the DMAP and ensuring it does not overlap.

Senator Boyhan asked about regulatory impact assessment and whether the auction will take place next year. An assessment was carried out as part of the process. A comprehensive assessment was completed by the Civil Service as part of this work. There will be an auction next year for this 900 MW DMAP and somebody will win that. Finally, he stressed the fact he is not a NIMBY and this work has to be done. I know there are people who are solidly against offshore wind no matter what but the majority of people realise there is huge potential in offshore wind. It is, as many Senators have said, part of our future prosperity and energy security. It will protect us against the kind of event that happened in the war where a remote war either in Russia, near Russia or in the Middle East can actually affect the daily lives of people who find they do not have enough money in their bank accounts because it has all been spent on imported fossil fuels. We will protect ourselves from that in the future.

Senator Dooley raised the question about fixed-bottom versus floating turbines. He admits he knows it will happen post-2030. There are floating turbines in existence; they are all on demonstrator sites at the moment and Ireland is working on a demonstrator project. In the coming weeks, we will work with industry to work out the terms of that demonstrator project We absolutely need experience with floating wind turbines and we need to do it as soon as possible. When we have a mature and viable technology, it would be great if Ireland were the first to deploy those wind turbines.

We are starting with this DMAP in an area that is below 70 m so we can use fixed-bottom turbines. At the moment, the price differential is that a floating turbine is three times the price of a fixed-bottom turbine but I am sure that will change over time. Companies such as TFI Marine are producing seasprings. This is an Irish company that is trying to sell that technology in Korea ,which greatly reduces the cost of floating wind turbines by dampening the effect of the waves on those turbines.

There will be huge opportunities in the supply chain and there is a demand for new skills. Our analysis shows that approximately 60% of the jobs that come from offshore wind turbines will be located locally. We expect that there will be hundreds of jobs in Waterford and Wexford as a result of this DMAP, which is something to be celebrated and welcomed.Senator Byrne asked whether the 5 GW target for 2030 is realistic; it is. The first 3 GW have already been contracted. We also have other targets, such as 8 GW of solar, which we are definitely going to reach. This is our glide path. This is our central energy and industrial strategy for the country. Everything is moving towards making this work and part of that is the speeding up and improvement of the planning and consenting process. Today is an historic day. After many months of working on the new planning Bill, it is due to be approved by the Dáil.

Senator Byrne also asked whether a regulatory sandbox is going to happen. My Department is working with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to ensure the regulatory sandbox will be ready alongside the floating wind demonstrator project next year.

Senator McGahon pointed out the benefits of offshore wind for energy security and said that this is not just a national matter. It means the EU overall will become more secure and we will have continental energy security. It is true that by combining and linking our grids together, we can reach a position where when one country is in surplus, it can help another in deficit. As a result, both countries will have lower-price electricity. It is important we manage to feed our electricity back and forth across the border in our own country and that the North-South interconnector gets built as soon as possible.

Senator McGahon told us he has developed a passion for the possibilities of the renewable energy transition and the benefits for the general public. I am delighted to hear that. I am very happy that a climate committee delegation visited Scotland to see the demonstration projects and offshore wind in practice and what Scotland is capable of. I am sure we will learn from and develop from that. It cannot be something only the Green Party is promoting. I am delighted that Senator Chambers and others expressed real enthusiasm for this as it will bring us long-term prosperity. We will take advantage of a resource in this country that was never harvested. I was taught in school that we did not have much in the way of natural resources. It turns out we are the windiest country in the world and with all our choppy waters, we will produce massive quantities of energy and secure our prosperity in the future.

Senator Gavan would like to see things moving faster. The Government produced the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021, establishing the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority and the national marine planning framework. We also have our first DMAP and 3 GW of wind energy consented. We are moving forward. It takes a number of years to build wind turbines but they will be coming onshore at a rate of knots. A total of 5 GW is only the start of it. We are heading towards 20 GW by 2040 and 37 GW by 2050. We will have a vast quantity of renewable energy, which we will not be able to use ourselves. We will be exporting it in multiple forms, whether that is through electricity interconnectors, hydrogen, ammonia or through adding value to products within Ireland. We could be using high-energy processes, such as extracting ores or transforming it by transforming data with that electricity and then exporting the product, which is data, through subsea cables. That is our future as a prosperous country.

Senator Chambers likened this to Ireland's gold and she is absolutely right. The delivery of this offshore wind energy will help us with the price of electricity and reduce the risk of power cuts. It will give us a security and a lasting strength. The Senator asked what our unique selling point, USP, will be in the future, what is it we will have and whether we will have enough energy to sustain our digital economy going into the future. Our future USP is going to be based around a combination of skills, this surplus of electricity and the stable political and social system we have in Ireland. It is a good place to set up business because it has a predictable environment. We have a highly skilled population and, at the same time, we will have a lot of electricity available to us.

Senator Gavan worried that there is no money in the budget for the grid. We allocated a special extra amount of €750 million for next year, as additional capital spending on the grid. That is only the start of it. Ireland is going to invest billions of euro between now and 2030 and tens of billions of euro are being invested around Europe to strengthen grids. Our grid is changing from a system that took energy from a very small number of generators that moved it in one way to consumers towards a grid where everybody is generating electricity and has solar panels. Electricity will move in two directions around the grid to provide us with deep security. However, it is a huge change in the way that the grid works.

Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
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I referred to the DMAP on the west coast.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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The DMAP for the west coast is going to begin next year. The fact we have done one DMAP means that we have learned from that and the next DMAP will be delivered faster. We will also have a new regulatory regime and new planning Act, which means we will have better guarantees on the times that we can deliver.

Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
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Will that be in 2025?

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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We will start the DMAP in 2025.

Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
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When will the process be concluded?

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I do not have a conclusion date for that.

Eileen Flynn (Independent)
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The Senator has had an opportunity to speak.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I need to conclude my speech as well.

The approval of this motion will give effect to the plan-led approach to offshore renewable development in Ireland, supported by the House in May 2023. It is a critical step towards unlocking Ireland's offshore wind potential while securing our energy independence and prosperity over the coming decades. Its approval should be considered a matter of strategic national importance. I thank everyone..