Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

Our incentives package is ambitious and is delivering. Fine Gael has entirely missed the point on this issue and is clearly out of touch with the general public. The scheme has been a huge success to date, with 1,600 applications being received in its first month of operation, of which 1,100 have been approved. The scale of this programme and the level of grant aid available — typically at 40% of the capital cost — underlines the Government's commitment to encourage and help people install renewable heat technology in their homes. The programme will support the conversion to renewable energy in more than 10,000 homes and is an excellent start on which I intend to build.

Following on the success of this programme, I will launch a grant aid package for commercial scale biomass boilers in the coming weeks. The programme will build on SEl's highly successful pilot bioheat programme and will encourage industry and commercial interests to invest in biomass heating technologies. This initiative, together with the greener homes scheme will stimulate the demand for renewable technologies and, in particular, biomass products such as wood chip and wood pellet, thereby providing valuable support for rural economies supporting sustainable jobs and growth.

I am working closely with my colleagues the Ministers for Finance, Agriculture and Food, Transport, the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Enterprise Trade and Employment and Enterprise Ireland, to ensure that the appropriate supports are in place across the supply chain. These initiatives are designed to reinforce the potential for renewable energy to become a significant economic sector in its own right, in the context of rural development objectives.

The biofuels excise relief programme, and biomass heating grants programme, which were developed and supported by the relevant Departments, show the value of this close co-operation. Several complementary initiatives have also been developed by the Department of Agriculture and Food, including forestry grants to promote alternative timber use and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, a scheme of supports for the purchase of specialist wood biomass harvesting equipment, grant assistance for research projects relating to biofuels and energy crop uses.

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