Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Quite honestly, the last question is a six-marker, on which I do not have sufficient knowledge to give the Deputy an informed reply. It is a very big question as to whether, having deregulated prices and with gas prices about to be deregulated from 1 July, there is a need for a regulator. I would have thought our EU partners would be horrified at the suggestion there would not be a regulator. I would certainly appreciate an input during the public consultation phase on the regulatory regime in Ireland from whomsoever wishes to make an input, not just those who have a vested interest in making a pitch on that issue.

I could avoid the Deputy's question on the regulator taking into account the cost of the interconnector as part of the infrastructure by saying that I do not have to answer it given that the highest court in the land decided it is right that it should be taken into account. My Department has consistently argued that it is an integral part of the infrastructure and that the interconnector has to be remunerated. In those circumstances a level playing pitch is necessary. We could not allow a situation in which a decision made on a particular company does not apply. For example, Corrib gas will come ashore next year and the project may beat the summer 2015 deadline which was fixed several months ago. The same rules would have to apply in that context. The judgment, which I had to read, is a very detailed and extensive unravelling of the complex issues arising. I was persuaded by the correctness of the decision. It is not right to say that it has prevented the LNG project from proceeding at Tarbert. Coincidently, I met the promoters of the LNG plant at Tarbert last night. I remain hopeful that it will provide an extra string to our bow in terms of an LNG facility. I am actively working with the promoters to see how the Government can facilitate the project and I have every hope for its future.

Deputy Dooley raised an interesting question regarding our focus on renewables in Ireland, which has primarily been on wind. I am proud that, notwithstanding the straitened circumstances in which we found ourselves, we managed to maintain our investment in research in wave and tidal energy. The offshore renewable energy development plan, OREDP, which we published in September, takes an imaginative and comprehensive approach to the future exploitation of offshore resources as a contribution to our energy security and needs. We continue to invest in this area. I do not know of any country which has made great advances beyond the research and development stage in which we are currently engaged. We are carrying out innovation work in this respect in co-operation with the sector. It will undoubtedly become an important source of energy in future but it will not meet our energy needs next week or next year. Last year we hosted a major international conference on ocean energy which was attended by approximately 950 delegates. The scientists attending the conference lauded our potential for developing wave and tidal power given that we are an island nation. Our main thrust has been to maintain investment in the test beds, including work by the Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster, IMERC, in Ringaskiddy and the development of the new Beaufort laboratory. This area is, therefore, very much on our radar and it is included in the Green Paper.