Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 April 2023
110. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he intends to expand the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce to bring ports, the ORE industry and State agencies together to improve readiness to deliver offshore wind, including through the possible introduction of an Irish strategic port investment model; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19964/23]
View answerI established the inter-Departmental, inter-agency Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce to accelerate delivery and capture the wider and longer term economic opportunities associated with the development of offshore wind in Ireland. Its membership comprises senior officials from the Government Departments and agencies that are vital to the delivery of Ireland’s ORE ambitions.
This includes the Department of Transport, which owns a workstream under the Taskforce dedicated to the facilitation of offshore wind by commercial ports. The offshore industry, the Ports Co-Ordination Group and Irish Maritime Development Office are key stakeholders of this workstream.
Key actions for 2023 for the ports workstream, which is led by the Department of Transport, include:
• assessing the minimum Irish port capacity and deliverability regarding deployment and Operations & Maintenance required to achieve 2030 targets; and
• exploring the availability of funding streams to support the delivery of OWE port projects.
Officials from my Department and the Department of Transport are collaborating on this work, including engagement with a wide range of relevant stakeholders.
