Chairman:

I thank Ms Donnelly. That was very informative. I will start with a number of brief questions and then I will move to my colleagues. Which renewable technologies have proven most successful for European countries that are reaching their targets and doing a lot better than Ireland? We have constructed seven offshore wind turbines out of 830 that have received licences. What are the blockages for us and how can we improve on that?

I am very much in favour of the community feeding into the grid through microgeneration. This is something we must look at. We have no clear national guidelines on wind farms which contain proper setback provisions. Does Ms Donnelly agree that this is an issue? We are all very much aware of the objections around that. That is where community involvement comes into this: getting the buy-in of a community so that it benefits from microgeneration. Perhaps Ms Donnelly will expand on that.

What types of funding or co-funding are available for renewable energy generation research and development at EU level? One of the problems with EU energy policy is that the price of carbon under the emissions trading system, ETS, is too low. This means it is still profitable to generate electricity from coal. How is the EU tackling that issue? In her time at the Commission, did Ms Donnelly find getting progress in this area frustrating? Is there something we are missing in discussing the ETS? That is something of which we as a committee have to be very cognisant.

With the upcoming reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, there is talk of rewarding farmers for sequestering carbon. To what extent does the Directorate General for Energy influence the way the Commission develops proposals on the agriculture budget? How can Ireland take advantage of research and development to become a leader in renewables? Does Ms Donnelly have any advice for our committee on research and development of renewable energy technologies when we write our report? What direction should we take as a committee? I know there are several questions there. I invite Ms Donnelly to deal with them in whatever order she wishes.