Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the ambition set out by the independent Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce in their Final Report. Government has committed to examining the Taskforce’s Report in detail. Among its recommendations, the Taskforce proposed that my Department coordinate the Government response to their action plan. My officials have been engaging across Government and State Agencies on this with the intention to publish an implementation update by the end of the year.

In terms of the recommendations, I particularly welcome the Taskforce’s proposal to develop an Industrial Strategy for Offshore Wind. My Department has established a dedicated Unit tasked with delivering on this objective recognising the vast potential the industry has for Ireland. My officials are leading on extensive consultations across Government and industry to develop the Strategy, and the intention is to publish a Strategic Roadmap in the first half of 2024. This Strategy will be an iterative piece of policy development which will, over time, capture many of the areas of industrial development that the Taskforce make recommendations on.

A number of related recommendations contained in the Report, including the establishment of the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) and the publication of a National Hydrogen Strategy and an Electricity Interconnection Policy, have also been actioned by Government in the past few months. These are important elements to our delivery of offshore wind energy, and its end uses, and clearly demonstrate Government’s commitment to developing an offshore wind industry of scale in Ireland.

I also welcome the series of recommendations in the Report designed to bring more immediate economic and sustainability benefits to the Shannon Estuary region. This includes actions required to develop and upscale the deployment of onshore sources of renewable energy such as biomethane, as well as specific recommendations on developing the region’s transport and logistics infrastructure, digital connectivity, and proposals around further developing the Estuary’s tourism offering.