Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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567. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will set out in detail the process through which a company such as Saorgas would establish an offshore wind farm in the foreshore as is currently proposed for the Kish Bank, including all the licencing, leasing, environmental requirements and also detailing the different areas of responsibility covered by his Department and other Government Departments. [26652/13]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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568. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide details of the foreshore licence that Saorgas currently hold in the area of the Kish Bank; when it was granted; and the nature of the public consultation process surrounding that grant. [26653/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 567 and 568 together.

In August 2000, the nister for the Marine and Natural Resources granted foreshore licences to ‘The Kish Consortium’ to assess the suitability of a site on the Kish and Bray Banks for the construction of an offshore electricity generating station. The licences were valid from 2 April 2001 for 4 years and allowed the company to carry out investigations into seabed sediment, as well as measuring wave, tide, current and silt load. The application for the licences had been the subject of consultation with statutory bodies and the public in early 2000 prior to the decision to grant the licences.

In order to construct a windfarm on the foreshore, a lease under the Foreshore Act is required, as well as consents from the Commission for Energy Regulation (a Licence to Generate Electricity and an Authorisation to Construct a Generating Station). Planning permission in respect of any land-based infrastructure associated with the development is also necessary. An application for a foreshore lease for the construction of a windfarm with more than 5 turbines or having a total output greater than 5 MW must be accompanied by an Environmental Impact Statement and where required a Natura Impact Statement.

The Kish Consortium, now operating as the Kish Offshore Wind Ltd. and Bray Offshore Wind Ltd., both part- owned by Saorgus Energy Ltd., lodged an application for a foreshore lease to develop a windfarm on the Kish and Bray Banks with my Department in 2009. These banks are approximately 10km from the Dublin and Wicklow coasts. The company recently published an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in respect of the proposal. A public consultation process is currently on-going. However, this application will not be assessed by my Department or the Marine Licence Vetting Committee until the Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP) has been published.

The assessment that will be carried out by my Department will have regard to the information contained in the application, the EIS, the OREDP and the associated Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment.

In carrying out an assessment of an application of this nature, my Department is also required to consider submissions or observations made by the public and the bodies prescribed following a consultation period of 8 weeks duration.

If granted, the terms of a Foreshore lease for an offshore wind project will address such matters as environmental standards, construction methodology, good management of the facility, fees payable as well as standard legal clauses regarding issues such as warranties, insurance and indemnities.