Mr. Eamonn Confrey:

I will answer the renewables side of the question. In terms of the EPA figures and others, we are constantly monitoring our trajectory against targets. To summarise the renewables targets, we are about halfway there in our overall renewable energy standard, RES, target, which is legally binding at 16%. At the end of 2015, we were at about 9.2% of that 16%. Below the overall RES target of 16%, we have three sub-targets, one of which is the electricity RES, which is a 40% target. At the end of 2015, we were at slightly more than 25% on that trajectory. The second sub-target is on heat, RES-H. The target for 2020 is 12%. At the end of 2015, we were at just less than 7%. The final target is in transport, RES-T. The target is 10% by 2020. At the end of 2015, we were at 5.7%, which is slightly below 6% for that target.

We see renewables, efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions as the three legs of the overall stool of climate change. We keep our progress under close supervision with regard to how we are getting there. Senator McDowell referenced onshore wind. To put it into perspective, of the 2,700 MW of renewable generation capacity that was connected at the end of 2015, about 2,200 MW of that was in onshore wind. Up to this point, wind has been the most cost-effective technology in terms of delivery. However, the Senator is correct in saying that there is increasing resistance in many communities to turbines. We are working very closely with colleagues in the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government on how we can respond to those concerns and ensure that we are also doing it in a way that is in compliance with other directives around environmental impact assessment and all of that.

The Senator went on to mention Brexit. While I am not leading our discussions around Brexit, it is clear that energy has a very significant part to play in the overall decisions that we will have to make. As members are aware, we are highly dependent on the UK, particularly for gas, although with the Corrib gas field having come on line, that dependency is not quite as high as it was. We also have an east-west interconnector. Nobody knows at this stage how the Brexit negotiations are going to go. Many of our arrangements are on a bilateral basis with the UK that pre-date our membership of the EU. I would see no reason the UK would not honour a lot of those. At the same time, we as an EU member state need to be mindful in our discussions at EU level. There is a much greater drive towards what is called regional co-operation. We are a part of a group I would term the north-western member states that is working collectively on things like offshore energy, grids, ocean energy and other technologies.

We in the renewables policy side of the Department are looking at a range of technologies beyond onshore wind. Indeed, we are already supporting some of them, namely, biomass. Ocean, offshore and solar energies will all have a part to play. Like everything else, we just need to watch the cost. The cost impact to the consumer by way of the public service obligation, PSO, which appears in everybody's bill, and the renewable portion of the costs of the PSO is on the increase. That is offsetting the fossil fuel imports that we need to take into the country.