Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I am very pleased to have an opportunity to make a short contribution on what I regard as a very important motion. It is part of a long process in which we in these Houses have been involved for some time. The Minister of State described it as a landmark proposal, and it is. Spatial planning for our marine environment is a relatively new concept. In the past, it was almost a free-for-all in terms of the territorial waters but, now, the State is actually designating where activities are appropriate and proper, in consultation. All of that is to be welcomed.

The objective of this motion, obviously, is to identify four maritime areas for designated marine area plans off the Wexford and Waterford coasts. As I said, so far, so good. This is really important. The consultation at local level is important, as is the overwhelming support the Minister of State has garnered for this development, because it is an essential part of our future. We really need to decarbonise, and the potential is there to do a really good job. So far, so good. I have nothing but positive things to say. Then I put in the "but". The "but" is that the Government is great at drafting the plans, talking them through the Dáil and garnering support for this. The problem now is in the doing of it. It really is important.

I can speak very clearly from a Wexford perspective. Wexford is ready and eager to go. The communities of Wexford, the South East Technological University and Wexford County Council have all been engaged in preparing for offshore renewable energy for a very long time. What we do not have is onshore infrastructure ready in time. The previous speaker mentioned the fact that there is only one port on the island available to service offshore energy. I chair the economics committee of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and we carried out an analysis of that. In fact, the Department made a very positive contribution to those deliberations, as did its British counterparts. We visited ports across these islands. There are basically two ports that can service these particular designated areas now. One is in Belfast and the other is in Liverpool. It is just not good enough that we have no designated port capable of servicing these sites in our own jurisdiction. The Minister of State might refer to Rosslare Europort. We are desperately anxious to make Rosslare the designated port to service offshore energy off the coasts of counties Wicklow, Wexford and Waterford. It is the logical place for it. The only investment that has gone in there now - there is currently very significant investment of €250 million or a little bit more - is made up entirely of Brexit adjustment funds coming from the European Union. There is no state aid or support from Ireland. It is not the pivotal expansion that is needed to ensure we have a vibrant support base for offshore energy that would be very jobs-rich for the south east generally. We need to improve our rail infrastructure into Rosslare. We are talking about it. I am talking to a Green Party Minister of State; rail should be in his heart. Where are the plans and investment to ensure that the rail infrastructure is capable of servicing this critically important energy source and industry for our nation for the next 20, 30, 40 and 50 years? That is the timeframe in which we should be thinking and investing.

My view on this is very straightforward and I speak passionately, I hope, for the people of Wexford. We want this to succeed. We see this as our future. However, we cannot do that unless the Government is not a hands-off observer. I have spoken to senior Ministers in the Government who tell me they cannot really pick a winner in terms of ports. If we do not pick a winner, we will not have a winner. I talk to the industry suppliers. I have gone to their conferences. They are desperately anxious for us to have a port that is capable, that they can see right now, so that when they are putting in their multi-billion euro investments, they know they are backing a winner. I hope that when this motion is passed today, as it will be with the enthusiastic support of this House, the basic onshore infrastructure, in terms of a port in Rosslare, the rail links into it and the general infrastructure to support what must be a critical part of our future, is in place.