Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Is the Minister willing to hold back on the decision in regard to the new REFIT, which is fundamentally different from the old one, until an Oireachtas committee has had a chance to examine the issue? There are people who believe that this is a great giveaway, which will give so-called suppliers, namely, big companies such as the ESB, Airtricity and Bord Gáis, a licence to print money to the tune of €1 billion on the backs of Irish taxpayers.

The reason is that the new REFIT works on the basis that the producer, that is, the person with the wind farm receives a fixed tariff, that the supplier receives a fixed margin, with virtually no risk, and if the price increases due to the cost of oil the supplier, rather than the producer, gets the benefit. In view of all these serious public concerns about this scheme, which was devised by his Department, is the Minister willing to hold back on any decision on the new REFIT programme until the Oireachtas committee has had an opportunity to examine whether the concerns raised by people of good bona fides and knowledge are founded? It would appear to me that they are well founded.

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