Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is in the nature of a subsidy because if the prices these plants can obtain in the wholesale market for their product go down, they have been given a guarantee that the price will be kept at a certain level. We do that for a public interest reason, not just to put money in the pockets of independent commercial people but to ensure we keep up our production of renewables in the country. There is a public interest in doing that. They are private companies. The Deputy can describe it as a subsidy to private industry. I cannot disagree that that is what it is, but it is done for a public interest, which is to ensure the particular plants we want to see operating and the renewables we want to see produced actually happen so that we can keep to our targets, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and increase our dependence on renewables. That is one of the reasons. It is true that these are private companies but the State does not run industry in this country. Obviously, we have the ESB, which is a hugely successful commercial semi-State company, but for us to vindicate the public interest, for example in regard to renewables, we must have this subsidy system in place, and we have had it in place since 2001.

See this speech in context