The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, is travelling to Ros an Mhíl to announce a very welcome €25 million investment to help capitalise on our massive offshore energy opportunities. While the Russians are holding the EU over a barrel regarding gas supplies, thus taming the EU approach not just to Ukraine but to war games off our own coast, we in Ireland are sitting on enough offshore electricity to power more than 64 million homes across the European Union. As I pointed out in our Private Members' motion that was unanimously adopted by the Dáil on 8 December 2021, unless we take a strategic approach to developing all our ports, we will never maximise this opportunity or drive down the cost of electricity for Irish families. When will the Government establish an offshore renewable development authority to drive a fully co-ordinated national action plan for our offshore energy sector?

The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communication, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Government as a whole, are very conscious of the extraordinary impact offshore wind can have on the economy of the west and in meeting our energy needs into the future. We could become a net exporter of electricity and energy into the future, with the use of hydrogen as well. There is very significant potential for the west coast, south-west coast and east coast with regard to the exploitation of wind into the future. Without question, the Ukrainian-Russian situation and the current crisis in energy prices reveals the need for more renewables and for us to do more on the renewable front. Looking at a European map, it is very clear that we have to do more on renewables and that is the entire focus of the Government right now.