Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 20 together. Ireland has one of the most promising ocean energy resources in the world, and the Government aims to position Ireland to take full advantage of this resource.

We have set a target of supplying 15% of electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2010 and 33% by 2020. The most significant contribution to this target is likely to be wind energy but we also aim to deploy other renewable energy technologies. The programme for Government sets a target of 75 MW of ocean energy connected by 2012. We have also set an initial ambition of 500 MW of ocean energy by 2020. These are challenging targets and require a cohesive strategic approach to research, development and demonstration and commercialisation.

The ocean energy strategy published last year aims to put Ireland at the forefront of ocean energy development and position us to capitalise on the resource. The strategy was developed by Sustainable Energy Ireland, SEI, and the Marine Institute. The strategy sets out the road map to advance research and development capabilities through supports to deliver infrastructural testing facilities. SEI, in co-operation with the Marine Institute, already operates a grant support system for ocean energy research projects. To date, SEI has provided €1.4 million in grant support to eight groups involved in ocean energy technology development and research. Funding support has notably been provided to upgrade the hydraulics and maritime research centre in University College Cork as well as the establishment of an ocean energy test site a mile and a half off the coast of Spiddal, County Galway.

SEI also co-ordinates Ireland's participation in the International Energy Agency's ocean energy systems implementation agreement. The IEA agreement is an international co-operative research forum for addressing common challenges facing ocean energy, including the development of standards and best practice and information exchange and validation of research. The pace of technological development will determine the timelines for realisation of our ocean energy targets. I am placing particular priority on accelerating research and development and start-up production. Building national research capability in ocean energy is key. The Charles Parsons scheme has provided additional funding to University College Cork for research into ocean energy resources and ocean energy device modelling. This work will critically inform our understanding of Ireland's wave energy and tidal stream resources and the methodologies needed to realise the potential. My objective is to realise Ireland's ocean energy potential in the shortest realistically achievable timeframe. Our ambition is not only to optimise the contribution of ocean energy to electricity but to create an export-oriented ocean energy sector in Ireland at the cutting edge of technology.

See this speech in context