Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
337. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Transport if he will report on the progress of the Irish Maritime Development Office in its assessment of ports to facilitate the offshore renewal energy sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21201/22]
View answerIn 2021, the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO), in conjunction with the Department, engaged with stakeholders and carried out an assessment of the options for Irish commercial State Ports to facilitate the development of the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) sector. This is in line with the target of 5GW of offshore wind by 2030 and the potential of at least 30GW of floating offshore wind power thereafter, as set out in the Programme for Government and the Climate Action Plan 2021.
Following consideration of that assessment, my colleague Minister Ryan announced last December the publication of a Policy Statement setting out the strategy for commercial ports to facilitate offshore renewable energy activity in the seas around Ireland. A number of ports, both large ones for construction and deployment and smaller ports for operations and maintenance activities, will be required to provide facilities for the different activities at several locations around the country and for the various phases of the fixed and floating ORE developments.
This will ultimately allow investments that are commercially viable in the long-term progress without undermining the ability of any port to meet its primary obligations in relation to the facilitation of international trade.
This will also maximise the economic benefits at both regional and national level in terms of job creation and new SME enterprises in areas such as engineering, fabrication, transport and logistics, and other technologies. The Policy Statement also makes it clear to the offshore industry that the Government is committed to the provision of port facilities in Ireland for ORE developments.
The Policy Statement also set out that a Ports Co-ordination Group would be established, the overall objective of which is to ensure that ports develop infrastructure to facilitate the ORE sector in line with Government Policy and foster the growth of the related supply chain. The Group will provide a forum for port related ORE facilitation issues to be raised and to promote the sharing of information and best practices in relation to ORE facilitation issues. The first meeting of the Port Coordination group was held on 31 March 2021 where it was agreed that the group would meet on a quarterly basis.
