Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. I have a slight concern about our ability to reach the targets outlined by him. He said the target by 2020 is to provide 40% of our energy needs through renewables but, according to his figures, we are currently at 6% while 44 MW of generation have been approved under REFIT 3 with another 44 MW in the pipeline. This is less than 100 MW of energy and we have a much higher target to reach by 2020. I read an article recently, which stated Scotland is aiming to reduce its fossil fuel energy use by 12% by 2020. The resources available around our coastline, particularly off our west coast, include the potential for wave energy generation and further incentivisation of companies other than EirGrid and smaller operators to enter the market through PPPs or licensing arrangements is necessary. The volume of non-fossil fuel energy generation could be increased.

Clearly, we have significant work to do in this area. What proposals has the Minister?

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