Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I compliment Sinn Féin on tabling the Bill. I agree completely that microgeneration has a significant role to play, not only in reducing individuals' costs, but in providing electricity to the grid. I had the idea a number of years ago of seeing to what extent I could become self-sustaining in energy terms in my own house. We put in solar panels which have worked extremely well in providing hot water. One group that has benefitted greatly from that technology is the group of people who keep students in the Gaeltacht in the summer as they need lots of hot water then. Of course, one gets a great deal more sunlight in the summer than in winter and it proves to be a very efficient way to reduce one's heating bills.

I have also been anxious to take further steps to reduce the electricity usage in my home, not only by improving its insulation but by generating power. We have spoken a great deal here about photovoltaic generation, or solar panels, but I had the idea of getting a domestic wind turbine as I am on a hill with plenty of space around me and no neighbours to complain. However, the one inhibitor of this plan was that I could not sell the surplus production to the grid. Everyone gives out about poor rural people and all of the fossil fuels we burn in our motor vehicles. My next plan was to charge a car at night from the winds passing over the area in which I live thereby reducing my personal fossil fuel usage.

I believe that if a lot of people each do a little, it will have a major impact. I am very disappointed, therefore, with a lot of what I heard from the Minister tonight. We are eight or nine years along from the point at which the ESB started to pay a small amount for microgeneration, but all we have been given tonight is a list of barriers, rules and regulations, including EU rules, as to why we can never get beyond dreaming and take action. In previous generations, there was a much greater capacity to get things done, learn from mistakes and keep going forward. Nowadays, it seems to take about 20 years of going around a thing before we make it happen. It is only when there is a crisis that we realise the thing could have been done all along.

I want the Minister and the Department to put behind them these eight years of nothing that the Government has had and give a firm commitment to introduce microgeneration on a basis that is attractive to ordinary people. A lot of people do not want to make money or even massive savings. They want to make a contribution and if they break even or make a small saving, they are more than happy to make the investment. This suits everybody, be they urban or rural. However, as a lot of rural houses are built with south-facing aspects and are surrounded by a great deal more space, rural dwellers have many more microgeneration options. This is something that could greatly reduce the rural footprint.

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