Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I think I will have answered nearly all of the questions by the time I have finished responding to Deputies Brian Stanley and Eamon Ryan and Senator Joe O'Reilly.

Deputy Brian Stanley asked about the successful Brexit event in Boyle. He is right when he argues that there is a great deal of merit in having a much broader debate. This suggestion which was made on foot of the White Paper is now encompassed in the national dialogue on climate change. I agree with the Deputy that there needs to be a debate on a myriad aspects of this issue. The country's renewable energy policy is being reviewed. Deputy Eamon Ryan was probably Minister at the time when we put all of our eggs into one basket, in effect. We made significant progress by putting the focus on wind energy, but many other new technologies have become available since. Solar photovoltaic technology is one such example. Now is the time to look at such technologies and get the public to engage with them. There needs to be a far broader debate on this issue.

I would like to respond to what was said about statistics and targets. Prior to last year, the EPA projected that Ireland's reduction in greenhouse gas emissions up to 2020 would be somewhere between 6% and 11%. Earlier this year it announced that it had revised that forecast downwards. It now states that based on the level of growth in the economy - as we move forward we have to separate the direct link between economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions because we cannot maintain it - its projection is that the reduction on 2005 levels will be somewhere between 4% and 6%, rather than 20%. That is from where the figures are coming.

Deputy Eamon Ryan asked a question about fines. We cannot be definitive because of the myriad of complexities in this regard. If we do not hit our renewable energy targets, we are looking at fines in 2020. Deputy Eamon Ryan has asked about what will happen after 2020. Depending on the starting point, we could be looking at recurring fines on an annual basis between 2020 and 2030. While there is no dispute about where we need to get to by 2030, the starting point will have a significant impact for us in Ireland. Two or three other member states have a similar issue, but it is particularly dramatic for us in Ireland. If the starting point is our outturn for 2020, it will mean that rather than paying fines in 2021, 2022 and so forth, we will be able to put that money into deep retrofits and supports for renewable energy projects. The argument I have made to the Commission and my colleagues at Council level is that it would make far more sense, not just for Ireland but also for other member states, to spend that money to reduce our overall greenhouse gas emissions rather than in paying fines. The negotiations are ongoing. I will be in Luxembourg on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of next week for further engagement on the matter at Council level. The Council has not yet come up with a negotiating position to engage in the trilogue with the European Parliament which, as members will be aware, has already agreed its approach to the matter. If the European Parliament's position is the accepted one at the end of the negotiating process, Ireland will pay significant fines from 2021 onwards. That money would be far better spent in carrying out the deep retrofitting about which we have been talking.