To ask the Minister for the Economy whether she will commission a report to assess the potential contribution of offshore and marine technologies to the future of renewable electricity generation in Northern Ireland.

Work is already ongoing to assess the potential contribution of offshore and marine technologies. My Department is currently working with The Crown Estate, through its Key Resource Areas initiative, to identify the potential for fixed and floating offshore wind development in NI waters. The first report under this initiative, looking at technical aspects, was published at the end of November. The initial results are promising but this is only the first step in a process that will also have to take account of the economic and environmental characteristics of the identified areas. In relation to marine technologies, we are already aware of the potential through the two tidal projects at Fair Head and Torr Head which were granted rights to develop in 2012. How best to accelerate these projects and encourage more developments of this nature will be considered as we develop a new Energy Strategy.