Sinn Féin spokesperson on Rural Affairs, Community Development and the Gaeltacht and Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Conor McGuinness TD, has said Ireland’s offshore renewable energy sector must be developed sustainably and in the national interest, ensuring coastal communities and fishermen are not displaced or left carrying the costs while others take the benefits.
McGuinness said:
“Ireland has an enormous opportunity to develop offshore renewable energy, strengthen our energy independence and create jobs and investment in coastal communities. But how we develop this industry matters enormously.
“We cannot allow offshore renewable energy to become an extractive model where coastal communities in Waterford and around Ireland carry the disruption and environmental costs, while seeing little of the economic benefit.
“Development must not displace fishermen or negatively impact coastal communities. It must involve those communities from the outset, with proper engagement, fair compensation and a clear commitment to local jobs, apprenticeships, port investment and opportunities for local SMEs.
“The State also needs an overarching vision for what we want offshore renewable energy to deliver. This should not simply be about generating electricity and selling it on. It should deliver energy security and affordable energy for households, while supporting Irish industry, enterprise and employment.
“We must avoid a situation where renewable energy generated off our coast is effectively feeding enormous data centres that deliver little local benefit, or is exported while Irish households continue to face high energy costs.
“As Chair of the Oireachtas Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Committee, I recently led a delegation to Scotland to examine the development of offshore renewable energy there. We visited the Neart na Gaoithe wind farm and a floating wind array off Aberdeen, while meeting planners, industry experts, fishermen and community representatives.
“We went to see the technology, but also to understand what has worked, what has not, and what Ireland can learn from Scotland’s experience.
“Ireland has the opportunity to build a genuinely sustainable offshore renewable energy sector that benefits the communities hosting it and wider Irish society. We need to make those choices now, before development gets ahead of us.
“Offshore renewable energy can be transformative for Ireland, but only if it is developed with communities, not imposed upon them, and in a way that delivers lasting value for the Irish people.”