Mr. Kevin Brady:

I might clarify matters in terms of the state aid application. We are in the pre-notification phase for the support scheme for renewable heat, SSRH. This is the period during which we discuss what our scheme is and how we plan to implement it with the Commission. As I said earlier, there are two strands of work. The other is the development of the detailed terms and conditions so that is part of the pre-notification period as we develop them. I know it has not been mentioned but I might put it out there in terms of grandfathering. This is where plants might already be up and running. Can they avail of the SSRH? That is part of this pre-notification process. We would like this to be the case but it needs to be teased out with the Commission so that when we agree or disagree with it, that goes into the final official state aid application. I assure everybody that we are working to implement the SSRH as soon as possible and that being in the pre-notification process does not mean there is a delay. It is part of the process.

In respect of Deputy Eamon Ryan's points and the two thirds of new homes that are being put in with fossil fuels, we could look at it as being the glass being one third full. Under Part L of the building regulations, all new homes and homes undergoing major renovation require a portion or an amount of renewable energy to be delivered on site. This is generally done in two ways. One is through solar PV panels on the roof, which is generally done in combination with a fossil fuel heating system, while the other way is in terms of heat pumps generating heating for the whole home. We have seen a growth in the number of heat pumps over the years and this number is growing so it is positive but, yes, fossil fuel heating systems are still being put in. At the moment, as part of the clean energy package, and I think the committee has talked about the package of measures that are moving through Europe, there is an energy performance of buildings directive that is almost at completion in Europe. The transposition of that directive will necessitate a change to the building regulations so that would be an opportunity to revisit that and examine whether it should be further changed. The building regulations in many ways constitute the stick stating what people must do. The carrot in terms of fossil fuels has been removed in terms of the recent changes to the better energy homes scheme whereby grants are no longer being offered to retrofit or put in new oil or gas boilers so there is definitely a direction of change there. It may not be as fast as the Deputy would like but it is certainly a move in that direction.

With regard to gas, Moneypoint and climate change targets, I would like to clarify, although people may already be well aware, that our renewable energy target is across the entire energy sector whereas our national emissions reduction target is only in the non-ETS sector. Electricity lives in the ETS sector so whatever the future of Moneypoint and peat stations is and whether they convert to gas or full renewables, I want to be very clear that this would not impact our national emissions reduction target. That is important.