Editorial: Government’s lofty energy plans must be matched by an attention to detail

Unless the government solves the staffing and resourcing issues in key state agencies as a matter of urgency, its climate change strategies are little more than empty words

Eamon Ryan, the Environment and Climate Minister, hopes Ireland will have 5,000 megawatts of offshore wind capacity installed by 2030 with a much larger pipeline of projects set to follow in the years after. Picture: Getty

Anyone casually listening to Eamon Ryan talking up the potential of Ireland’s offshore wind resources last week would have thought this country was the world’s most advanced developer of renewable energy infrastructure. The reality is very different.

Not for the first time, the pages of this newspaper contain revealing accounts of just how dysfunctional the delivery of strategic infrastructure is in this country, particularly complex renewable energy projects that will be crucial if Ireland has ...