Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 9: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the grants given to Irish companies involved in tidal turbines or wave energy; the applications for grants he has received relating to this energy resource to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28973/07]

Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 20: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will make a statement on the state of research into wave and tidal energy generation; and the proportion of energy requirements he envisages will be met by these sources by 2010. [29009/07]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 20 together. Ireland has one of the most promising ocean energy resources in the world, and the Government aims to position Ireland to take full advantage of this resource.

We have set a target of supplying 15% of electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2010 and 33% by 2020. The most significant contribution to this target is likely to be wind energy but we also aim to deploy other renewable energy technologies. The programme for Government sets a target of 75 MW of ocean energy connected by 2012. We have also set an initial ambition of 500 MW of ocean energy by 2020. These are challenging targets and require a cohesive strategic approach to research, development and demonstration and commercialisation.

The ocean energy strategy published last year aims to put Ireland at the forefront of ocean energy development and position us to capitalise on the resource. The strategy was developed by Sustainable Energy Ireland, SEI, and the Marine Institute. The strategy sets out the road map to advance research and development capabilities through supports to deliver infrastructural testing facilities. SEI, in co-operation with the Marine Institute, already operates a grant support system for ocean energy research projects. To date, SEI has provided €1.4 million in grant support to eight groups involved in ocean energy technology development and research. Funding support has notably been provided to upgrade the hydraulics and maritime research centre in University College Cork as well as the establishment of an ocean energy test site a mile and a half off the coast of Spiddal, County Galway.

SEI also co-ordinates Ireland's participation in the International Energy Agency's ocean energy systems implementation agreement. The IEA agreement is an international co-operative research forum for addressing common challenges facing ocean energy, including the development of standards and best practice and information exchange and validation of research. The pace of technological development will determine the timelines for realisation of our ocean energy targets. I am placing particular priority on accelerating research and development and start-up production. Building national research capability in ocean energy is key. The Charles Parsons scheme has provided additional funding to University College Cork for research into ocean energy resources and ocean energy device modelling. This work will critically inform our understanding of Ireland's wave energy and tidal stream resources and the methodologies needed to realise the potential. My objective is to realise Ireland's ocean energy potential in the shortest realistically achievable timeframe. Our ambition is not only to optimise the contribution of ocean energy to electricity but to create an export-oriented ocean energy sector in Ireland at the cutting edge of technology.

Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Everyone accepts that pioneering work in its early stages is being carried out in this field and that the west of Ireland is a very good location for this kind of development. Is the Minister convinced that we are providing enough in terms of support for individual companies developing prototypes, particularly in the area of wave energy and in the area of tidal energy? I get the impression that Portugal has an attractive feed-in tariff arrangement that is attracting people to avail of the facility to develop prototypes there. Has the Minister looked at how other countries support this kind of pioneering innovation? It is at such an early stage that it seems we should be doing this as we are ideally located.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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This is an area in which we should excel and our resources give us an opportunity to take a lead that other countries, which may have taken a lead in other areas of renewable energy, such as Germany, will not be able to take because the resource is not close to them.

My knowledge of Portugal in this regard is that it sees the development of its resources as a site for companies from other areas to use their plug-in facilities. We will seek to have Irish companies involved and a number of companies, at various stages of development, may help us develop an indigenous industry, perhaps in co-operation with international experts in engineering and other areas. This is our aim and it will require a number of different supports from the State, including good test facilities with grid connections, a feed-in fixed tariff system and capital grants in appropriate areas. These grants will, in all likelihood, be matched by significant private sector funding because the global fund in venture capital for renewables has increased from approximately €24 billion in 2004 to approximately €100 billion this year. The State will not be the main financier for such projects but it can act as a lever for support and that is my intent.

Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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I am having difficulty extracting specific information from the Minister and while what he is saying is interesting it is not providing clarity as to what the policy of his Department is in this regard, though I am new to this portfolio. Are we concentrating our efforts on the development of indigenous industry in the wave and tidal energy sector? If a target of 75 MW is to be set, surely we should not concentrate solely on developing indigenous operators in the area, though it is worthwhile. There is value in providing supports to attract outsiders to see what they will come up with and ensure we reach our targets. Is that not the purpose of all this?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I will be happy to see outside operators in the area but I wanted to make it clear that I do not want to rely exclusively on such operators. We should aim to develop expertise here.

Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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What are we doing to achieve this?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I hope, in the coming months, to offer a support package that will give a major boost to the industry.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am glad to hear that and the information is welcome, though I hope the money does not come from capital set aside for broadband.

The Minister said that we have set a target of 15% for 2010. Is it time to revise this target upwards? That figure was set in the Green Paper and confirmed in the White Paper on Energy for Ireland, which was put in place by the previous Government. We now have a Minister from the Green Party who clearly seeks to change Ireland's attitudes on energy use and generation.

The Minister said in his contribution that by the end of this year we could derive up to 1,000 MW from wind. We only produce 6,000 MW, or a little more, so we are more or less at the suggested figure already, when the wind blows. The Minister will receive a lot of support from my party if he displays more ambition than the White Paper on short to medium-term targets for the percentage of power generated from renewable sources.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I welcome the Deputy's comments because I feel we should not see those targets as the limit of our ambition but as the base level for our ambitions.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I fear some of the Minister's Cabinet colleagues may see those targets as the limit of our ambition and that is the problem.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I am confident that there is a clear realisation across the Government of the opportunities presented by this for employment generation, wealth generation and emissions reductions in our country. We tend to concentrate on the area of power generation to the detriment of other areas and I hope we may also exceed the targets relating to heat. Regarding transport we must be careful not to focus solely on our supply target and must consider demand reduction. In general, the target for energy efficiency in our National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency will be crucial and I hope great attention is paid to it. As we roll out that plan we must attempt, in the short to medium term, to exceed the targets on energy saving, in addition to targets on energy use and generation. I welcome the Deputies' comments and agree that we need to exceed targets.