Speeches by Carmichael.

“Do you think our seabed has less worth than New York’s? Ronan O’Hara: Our seabed has world class opportunity, but I also recognise the fact that we have practical considerations such as the terrain, the geography, the route to market, the grid—all those factors. When we seek to price anything, market conditions and ris…”

“That is about right. Given what you can see is possible where you have a different system in New York, do you still think that the judgments that you made in that first leasing round were correct? Ronan O’Hara: I do. I genuinely do, and it comes back to the fact that a house in a salubrious environment and postcode wil…”

“If I suggested to you that it was an auction for an area about a quarter of the size that was auctioned in Scotland and that it realised an income for New York of $4.3 billion, would that be about right? Ronan O’Hara: That sounds about right.”

“£755 million, I stand corrected. Do you know the scope of that auction round in New York and what it realised? Ronan O’Hara: I have heard it in the past; I could not recall the exact figures right now.”

“You talked about global comparators there, but there was an auction round in New York at much the same time, wasn’t there? Your auction round raised £700 million, is that correct? Ronan O’Hara: £755 million.”

“Differently then? Ronan O’Hara: Things can always be different in the future.”

“You could do it better in the future? Ronan O’Hara: I would not say that.”

“Do you think you got that calculation right? Ronan O’Hara: I would suggest that we did. I would suggest it was evidence based. It was methodical. It was fact based. I would also suggest that the nature of the market at present would suggest that we positioned that correctly.”

“You had an auction and then you capped the maximum bid in the auction. I have never heard of that being done anywhere else. Why did you choose a cap? Ronan O’Hara: First, it reflected the strategic objectives set that underpinned the leasing round—to create a strong pipeline with critical mass at a scale that was world…”

“That is helpful. Thank you. Can I just drill down a bit into the circumstances around the first leasing round for ScotWind? You will recall that that was the subject of some controversy at the time. Who designed that auction system? Was it yourselves or the Scottish Government? Ronan O’Hara: It was a system designed by…”

“In your view, is there any reason you could not have access to these same borrowing powers and guarantees, other than the fact that nobody thought about it when they were drafting the Act? Ronan O’Hara: The Act was specific for particular jurisdictions. I suppose this is more to do with the treatment of moneys evolving…”

“The Act is about guarantees for borrowing as well, is it not? Ronan O’Hara: It is, yes.”

“Good luck with that.”

“You will be aware of how it worked for them.”

“Indeed, we all know that. Look, I am sure the trawlermen of Cambridge will be well represented by Minister Zeichner, but what message should you take from the experience of the SNP-Green coalition in Holyrood and its efforts to introduce HPMAs?”

“The Crown Estate will tell you that their priority is to maximise economic benefit to the Treasury, so it is not necessarily about fishing any more, is it?”

“He is a wonderful Minister, but he is not a fisherman.”

“What do you anticipate will be the net effect on fishing opportunity once you make these designations?”

“Yes, new HPMAs.”

“Minister Hardy, when do you envisage bringing forward proposals for HPMAs?”