Renewable energy has the potential to be a vital new source of revenue and energy for our market. Its development is our chance to become energy independent eventually. We can harness energy and export the excess energy that Ireland will not need, or we can import it from abroad. This is the choice the country has to make. As an island we are extremely fortunate to have an abundance of natural resources, including our coastal waters. One of the most exciting possibilities with regard to harnessing offshore wind energy is at Foynes in Limerick. The port is uniquely placed with deep water and 127 ha of development land adjacent to it. It is said that developing Foynes Port to be a gateway point for wind energy is the Ardnacrusha moment of our generation. Recently, Wind Energy Ireland made a presentation in the audiovisual room at which it advised that Ireland is further away from reaching its 2030 target than it was this time last year. I appreciate there will be challenges but I would like to know from the Tánaiste what progress the Government has made in progressing the ambition to deliver this.

We have made strong progress on offshore wind. A major Government policy to help deliver Ireland's ambitious climate energy targets is the auction-based renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, through which grid-scale renewable electricity generation projects compete to receive a guaranteed price for the electricity they generate. More than 1 GW and 1.8 GW of new wind and solar generation were secured in the first two RESS auctions. Ireland is on track to reach 6 GW of grid-connected renewables by the end of 2023. The third auction is under way. The SRESS will offer support for renewable electricity installations that are not suited to other support measures, such as the utility scale RESS and the MSS.

In terms of ports, we are very conscious of the great economic opportunity for Foynes and other places across the country in respect of offshore renewable energy.