Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The European Union has made it clear that in developing offshore renewable energy, one industry cannot replace another. I spoke to fishers on the east coast again today and I have raised this matter on several occasions here. They are saying that because the Government has let the developers decide about certain sites, most notably the Kish and Codling Banks, their entire industry will be wiped out. This will happen because the developers have decided the location and there has been no proper consultation with the fishers. They point out, for example, that their fishing gear is 600 m in length but that the gap between each of the wind turbines will only be 800 m. If they foul their gear on cables or the turbines it could be a disaster. They say it will destroy the spawning grounds on those sand banks for haddock, cod, whiting, whelk, crab and lobster and wipe out an industry that creates about 800 to 1,000 jobs. What does the Taoiseach say to them?

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