Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

This is an area in which we should excel and our resources give us an opportunity to take a lead that other countries, which may have taken a lead in other areas of renewable energy, such as Germany, will not be able to take because the resource is not close to them.

My knowledge of Portugal in this regard is that it sees the development of its resources as a site for companies from other areas to use their plug-in facilities. We will seek to have Irish companies involved and a number of companies, at various stages of development, may help us develop an indigenous industry, perhaps in co-operation with international experts in engineering and other areas. This is our aim and it will require a number of different supports from the State, including good test facilities with grid connections, a feed-in fixed tariff system and capital grants in appropriate areas. These grants will, in all likelihood, be matched by significant private sector funding because the global fund in venture capital for renewables has increased from approximately €24 billion in 2004 to approximately €100 billion this year. The State will not be the main financier for such projects but it can act as a lever for support and that is my intent.

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