Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I also thank the Deputy for his comments and wish him well. My engagement with him has been always very satisfactory and I thank him for his unfailing courtesy. He has always addressed the issue, not the man, for which I thank him.

The Government has supported a range of policy measures and schemes to incentivise the use of renewable energy, many of which have been successful in encouraging a shift towards using more renewable energy by semi-State companies, including Coillte, ESB and Bord na Móna. The renewable energy feed-in tariff schemes support the development of a range of renewable electricity technologies, including hydro, biomass combustion, biomass combined heat and power, landfill gas and onshore wind. These schemes are open to all interested parties, including relevant semi-State companies.

The ESB has a long history of successfully delivering hydro power, made significant progress in divesting much of its older inefficient thermal plants, is building its renewables portfolio based primarily on wind energy and has established an investment fund tasked with sourcing, evaluating and executing appropriate investments in technologies with breakthrough potential in renewable energy generation. I also welcome the company's commitment to decarbonise its generation activities by 2050.

Bord na Móna is also making good progress in the renewable energy space and I understand the company is aiming to develop wind farms on land that was previously used for peat production. I was pleased to see in October this year that Bord na Móna published its Sustainability 2030 report, which outlined its plan to replace its use of large-scale peat production with alternative energy sources, including biomass, wind and solar energy by 2030. Many of the technologies identified in the report will be eligible for support under the new renewable support schemes under development by my Department. It is also important to note that EirGrid and the ESB are co-ordinating effectively to ensure the timely connection of increasing levels of renewable generation from all interested parties on the national electricity grid.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

My Department is in the process of designing a new renewable heat incentive scheme to encourage an uptake of renewable energy in the heat sector and also working on the introduction of a new renewable electricity support scheme. Both new schemes are expected to go live at the end of 2016, subject to Government approval and state aid clearance, and will be open to all interested parties.

In the transport sector it is my intention to continue to support the deployment of sustainable biofuels through increases to the biofuels obligation scheme. The first such increase will take effect on 1 January 2016. The scheme has successfully incentivised an uptake in the use of biofuels in Ireland in both the semi-State sector and the private sector and will continue to do so.

In October 2014 my Department published a draft bioenergy plan in which a number of actions were outlined specifically designed to support the uptake of renewable energy. The draft plan contains measures to stimulate and support the supply of Irish biomass in the coming decade. In this regard, the key recommendations include continued support for the afforestation programme, the continuation of the bioenergy scheme for energy crops and the establishment of Bioenergy Ireland, a joint venture between Bord na Móna and Coillte. The energy White Paper which I intend to publish tomorrow will provide the framework for accelerating the development and diversification of renewable energy generation.

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