Mr. Justin Moran:

There is a real opportunity for Senator Dooley and other members to get involved in shaping how those community benefit programmes will run. As members may be familiar, under the renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, that was launched last year, every wind farm participating in that scheme will need to put in a payment to the community benefit fund of €2 a megawatt hour. That works out at roughly between €4,000 and €5,000 for a megawatt of installed capacity. For a 20 MW farm, it will cost somewhere between €80,000 and €100,000 a year for 15 years going into a local community. The really impressive part about the renewable electricity support scheme is that it has put community control and influence over where the money goes at the heart of how it is being developed.

The reason I said there is an opportunity here for members is because the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, is running a consultation asking people to provide input on how community committees should be structured, set up, the powers they should have, and the supports and resources that should be available. We are very keen to see communities empowered and enabled as much as possible to ensure the SEAI provides them with the resources that enable them to take best advantage of this. A wind farm, for example, could be a transformative opportunity for a small rural community or a coastal community when offshore wind farms come together. Let us think about how we can use this money over ten or 15 years to leave a real lasting legacy in that community. It is not just investment in small pockets. It is actually investing in capital in that community and making a difference over the long run. I will share with the members of the committee details of the consultation because the issue is quite live. Certainly, the principle of ensuring maximum community control over the community benefit fund is one we absolutely support and it is one that is embedded in the renewable electricity support scheme.