Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The €156 million is the cost for overall renewable generation, not specifically wind. Of course it would be great if we could achieve our objectives without any State subsidy. It would be highly desirable not to have to subsidise the sector at all.

However, it has been demonstrated that to bring forward the new renewable technologies and investments, that subsidy is required. Other countries have discovered this also. I have had this debate before about solar energy with one of the Deputy's colleagues. Strategic decision-making is always necessary in terms of the extent to which, and when, new technologies should be subsidised. Perhaps if one held back from the subsidy, as other countries in Europe are discovering in the case of solar energy, it might have happened anyway without it because the market would have delivered all of these changes. That may well be so, but, ultimately, we will review the question of wind energy. I do not want the Deputy to imagine that I think our renewable energy portfolio should be confined to onshore wind generation; it definitely should not. It has proved to be successful, but it should not be confined to it.

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