Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I agree with the Deputy. The 9 cent per kilowatt hour is there as an instrument to break the logjam that has existed for years whereby nobody would or could purchase the power. Part of the measures we want to put in an interim package is that there would be a further price support measure which would complement that to provide an incentive. It is just an interim measure. We have also commissioned very detailed analysis of each of the small micro generation sectors to consider the more long-term, sustainable approach to encourage the development of this generation system. The price we will put in will be an interim measure. It will provide a more significant price support than the 9 cent referred to but it is, in itself, only an interim measure.

We can examine Spain, Germany, France and the countries the Deputy mentioned to consider their experience. What one does not wish to do, which has happened in some of those countries, is set a very high price and then undermine the market by having to claw that back or bring it down. We must set an appropriate price that allows people, particularly dairy farmers, businesses and farms, to erect the windmills or other devices that would work very effectively in the Irish landscape and weather and give them an ability to sell on. That price is only a fraction of what I believe the proper support price should and will be.

Regarding net metering, I will refer back to the Deputy on the exact number of meters delivered to date, but we are on target for installing the 21,000 meters so we can test how householders use the meter and how it works. That is the right way to do this. People can criticise and say we should have installed 500,000 by now but my experience with a range of different projects in which we have engaged is that one first tests the item in the real world. It is not a small test; a total of 21,000 houses is a significant sample of the population. That will provide the figures and analysis that will allow us to deploy it across the country, which I am confident we will do.

I am confident that we are ahead of other countries. Members of the Opposition are critical that we are not further advanced but we are ahead of most other jurisdictions. Crucially, we are ahead in terms of learning from the mistakes. Other countries have installed smart meters but the meters were not necessarily as smart as they would have liked two or three years later. It is appropriate for us to get it right, and that is what we are doing.

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