Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

For the benefit of Opposition Deputies who appear to be unaware of initiatives, I will provide a detailed outline of the progress we have made. We have made major progress. We have set an ambitious agenda across the three principal renewable energy sectors: renewable electricity, transport and heat.

By way of background, the key factors driving the development of renewable energy sources include carbon and other environmental imperatives, rising oil and gas prices and exponential increases in global energy demand. In the area of renewable electricity our immediate programme is to increase the efficient contribution from renewable electricity from 3.6% in 1997 to 13.2% by 2010. That requires a capacity of 1,450 MW and we are on track to achieve and exceed this target. In the past two years alone, Ireland has doubled its renewable generating capacity to 846 MW and there is a further 630 MW in signed connection agreements. Sustainable Energy Ireland, SEI, will tomorrow announce a 70% increase in wind generated electricity over the past 12 months.

To ensure all the projects in the pipeline are delivered I recently launched the renewable energy feed-in tariff, REFIT. That is an investment which will require €119 million over 15 years. It will underpin the viability of these projects by offering 15 year contracts to developers so that they can plan ahead. These measures will ensure that we reach the target. Not only will we reach the 2010 target on time, but we will be ahead of schedule and we intend to do more than that. In support of that particular aim, an additional 1,300 MW of wind project has been released into the connection process in the past few weeks. Contrary to what has been said across the House, we are moving forward, we have set ambitious targets and we will achieve them. Even more ambitious targets will be set in the future.

We are committed to the major development of renewable energy sources and I do not intend in any way to limit our ambition. That is also, crucially, a shared ambition for the island as a whole in the joint commitment to enhance energy sustainability on an all-island basis. The 2004 all-island energy market development framework sets out the blueprint for the achievement of an island energy market. North-South co-operation in the area of sustainable and renewable energy is progressing apace. I take the opportunity of acknowledging and thanking former Minister Angela Smith for her work and co-operation in that area. She took a great interest in the whole energy area and I wish her well in her new position.

The all-island 2020 vision for renewable energy, referred to by Deputy Durkan, I believe, and published as a consultation paper last July, will culminate in an agreed joint policy paper later this year with a particular focus on renewable electricity and generation. To ensure the implementation of the strategy for renewables we have commissioned a joint all-island grid study into the accommodation of different renewable energy technologies into the electricity grid system. Both Governments have completed an analysis of the potential for bioenergy to form a critical part of the long-term renewables mix across the island. Both Governments have stated their common view on the need to actively support the drive to mainstream the use of renewable energy and significantly increase energy efficiency on an all-island basis.

It is significant that the Fine Gael motion does not refer to the all-island dimension of renewable energy policy, or indeed energy policy generally.

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