STORM TRACKER: Follow 'Storm Amy' as it bears down on Ireland amid brutal forecast
Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Figures citing Scotland’s capacity for offshore wind power were “out of date” despite being used by the First Minister, a Scottish minister has admitted.
Several Scottish Government ministers, including Nicola Sturgeon and Deputy First Minister John Swinney, had told MSPs in Holyrood that Scotland had 25% of Europe’s potential offshore wind resources.
The claim had come under scrutiny from opposition MSPs after research from think tank These Islands showed the figure to be incorrect.
Speaking at Holyrood’s Topical Questions, Lorna Slater, Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, said the Scottish Government only became aware of the inaccuracy on Tuesday, November 8 – following prior sight of the think tank’s report.
The Scottish Green MSP said: “The figure relating to Scotland having 25% of Europe’s offshore wind potential was first set out back in a 2010 publication. It is now out of date.
“However, this does not change the fact that Scotland already has an important offshore wind sector, and we have huge potential to grow this and become a global leader, with over 40 gigawatts of potential offshore wind developments already in the pipeline.”
Scottish Conservative MSP Liam Kerr accused ministers of “putting out dodgy data”.
He said civil servants had warned the Scottish Government “several years ago” that the data was not true.
The claim, he said, had been repeated from seven different Government ministers.
He said: “The bogus statistic which civil servants and ministers knew was wrong, has been repeated ad nauseum.
“This chamber has heard it either here or in the course of their duties from First Minister Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister Swinney, Minister Todd, Minister McPherson, Minister Robertson, Minister Matheson and Minister Slater.”
Ms Slater added: “Scottish ministers understood that the statistic was accurate at the time that they cited it.
“Now that it has come to our attention that it is not, we are working to update statistics on how our offshore wind potential compares to other countries.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur also accused Scottish ministers of “cooking the books” in citing the data.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
