Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I am always reminded of the mobile phone and how 25 to 30 years ago, people carried a large battery cell phone around with them and how it is such a small device now. We should embrace the challenge, particularly with regard to renewable energy and having a healthy environment in which to live.

I have a number of questions for Mr. Mark Griffin. What does he envisage to be the role of this committee in the development of the national energy and climate action plan? He said there would be consultation.

Last week we had an amazing presentation from Ms Marie Donnelly. One point that stood out concerned the capacity of offshore wind and the facility at Porto, off the coast of Portugal. It is a floating device. It is clear from everyone we hear from that Ireland, as an island nation, has tremendous capacity. We should be very ambitious in this field. If we get it right, not only will we mitigate but we could also be supplying the rest of Europe.

I have a number of questions. What do the delegates believe is a realistic projection for the future of renewable energy in the next two decades in Ireland? What source of renewable energy would be best for us to use here?

I am a member of the Green Party. My colleague, Deputy Eamon Ryan, introduced the Community Energy (Co-ownership) Bill in the Dáil in November. The focus of the Green Party is on community energy and community access to energy. What is the position on community co-operatives being able to generate and have access to the grid, not only to supply energy to their own community but also to supply further afield in order to generate funding that would stay in the community. I refer to rural areas and areas around the country in general.

I speak to farmers in the south east fairly regularly. I am from Waterford. There is definitely a blockage in terms of gaining access to the grid. Farmers cannot gain access to it. I am curious about this. If a farmer were to put 25 acres under solar PV panels, what would it deliver for him on the farm? What would it deliver for the community? What could a farmer with 25 acres earn? Farmers are under pressure and need to have other sources of income.

Will there be a bigger role for new technologies such as ocean and tidal technology in the next 20 years or so? What problems will there be regarding their access to the grid?

Mr. Griffin said the national mitigation plan will be updated with carbon-pricing measures through the emissions trading scheme for power generation. Could he clarify what he means by this? Are changes foreseen to the emissions trading scheme, such as measures to increase the permit price? Will it continue to be business as usual in this regard?

With regard to Moneypoint, I have a few questions. It was mentioned that there are plans to close it around 2025. What is the position on those plans? What provision is being made for the staff? This was asked earlier.

With regard to biomass, can the delegates assure me that biomass will not play a significant role in the 55% renewable energy target for 2030?