Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Thank you very much. I may need it. In response to his point on renewables, Deputy Moynihan will be interested to examine the SEAI report on renewables which I published on Monday morning of this week. The SEAI considered what savings accrued in 2012 as a result of the supports for renewable energy. It concluded that savings of €245 million were realised. If one adds to that the 1.9 million tonnes in CO2 emissions that were avoided, that added a further €15 million in savings. REFIT applies over 15 years. The idea is that the situation will normalise and find its own place in the market over that time.

A further study is due to be completed very soon that involves the ESRI, the SEAI, EirGrid and the Department. The quadrilateral study is focusing on precisely the question Deputy Moynihan raised and it will be very interesting to see the results of the study.

I did discuss the PSO with the regulator at the recent meeting. There are three elements to it; the renewables element, which includes the peat-burning stations in the midlands. Successive Governments have made the calculation that there is a public interest in maintaining such employment in the midlands. A contract will expire next year that was entered into in 2005 when the country was on a knife-edge in terms of energy adequacy in respect of Tynagh and Aughinish. That is a factor as well.

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