Conor Murphy (Sinn Fein)

I thank Mr. Hughes for his presentation. It is welcome that the agencies are now being given the necessary tools to support what is a necessary development, namely, the requirement to meet climate change targets. It will also create opportunities for Ireland, an island on the western seaboard of the Atlantic, in the area of renewable energy. It will ensure that our companies on the island transition more readily and will have more support in meeting the carbon emission targets that will be set for everyone.

I will make a couple of points. There are a lot of technical aspects to the amendments being brought forward. How does the Bill align with the aim of the energy strategy to get more people involved in renewable energy as a business? Many of the grants seem to be focused on making sure our indigenous businesses and SMEs move into the space of reducing carbon emissions and assisting in meeting the necessary targets.

I know from conversations with the previous Minister for energy there is an ambition to not only be self sufficient in terms of renewable energy but also perhaps at some stage in the future to become an exporter of renewable energy off the island. How does it align with that?

I also ask our guests to expand a little more on the designated activity companies. What types of companies are they envisaging in that regard and what are the incentives for those who fall into that category? What is the expectation in terms of assisting with property solutions for future businesses? I ask them to expand a little more on what that actually means.