Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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90. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if there will be a development of a national wind energy strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20434/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Development in the renewable energy sector in Ireland is underpinned by a clear policy framework. Under the Renewable Energy Directive, Ireland is required to increase renewable energy from 3.1% in 2005 to 16% in 2020, with a minimum target of 10% in the transport sector. Energy is consumed across the transport, heating and electricity sectors. At the end of 2012, we had reached 6.4% of overall energy consumption from renewable sources. Our intention is to reach our overall target through 40% renewable electricity, 10% renewable transport and 12% renewable heating, which together amount to 16% of all energy consumption.

Under the directive, Ireland was required to set out in a National Renewable Energy Action Plan, NREAP, the trajectory towards meeting its legally binding target. The action plan and the first progress report on it, which are available on my Department's website, show the sectoral and technology breakdown that we anticipate in the achievement of our target. Wind-generated electricity is expected to play a major role. At the end of 2012, 19.5% approximately of our electricity consumption was from renewable sources. My Department's Strategy for Renewable Energy 2012 to 2020 has the strategic goal of having progressively more renewable electricity from onshore and offshore wind power for domestic and export markets.

Feed-in tariffs are the primary support mechanism for wind energy in Ireland. REFIT 2, which was launched last year, is designed to incentivise the addition of up to 4,000 MW of new renewable electricity capacity to the Irish grid from onshore wind, hydro and biomass landfill gas technologies. Plants must be new plants in all cases, neither built nor under construction on 1 January 2010. Projects must be operational by the end of 2017. The support for any particular project cannot exceed 15 years and may not extend beyond 31 December 2032.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The recent conclusion of the SEM consultations on dispatch and scheduling affords the opportunity to move on with the wind farm developments we require. Eirgrid is now in a position to commence issuing constraint reports in respect of Gate 3. This will allow developers to make decisions on their Gate 3 offers. Recent changes that I announced to REFIT 1 and REFIT 2 will further facilitate this development.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, published a report entitled, Energy in Ireland, in November 2012. That report gives an estimated figure of approximately €300 million in avoided national gas imports from the use of all renewable energies in the generation of electricity in 2011. Wind generation alone would account for an estimated €240 million of the €300 million in avoided gas imports.

The memorandum of understanding on energy co-operation that the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Mr. Edward Davey and I signed on 24 January will result in completion of consideration of how Irish renewable energy resources, both onshore and offshore, might be developed to the mutual benefit of Ireland and the United Kingdom. This will determine whether it is beneficial for both countries to enter into an inter-governmental agreement under the Renewable Energy Directive to provide for renewable energy trading.

If an inter-governmental agreement is entered into, there are potential significant employment opportunities. As an example, employment creation arising from a 3,000 MW project would be expected to be in the order of 3,000 to 6,000 job years in the construction phase, with the actual number dependent on the construction schedule to 2020. There would also be additional jobs created in the ongoing maintenance of turbines over a 20-year operating life. Further employment opportunities could arise if turbines or components were to be manufactured in Ireland. All relevant State agencies, particularly in the enterprise area, would have to co-ordinate their activities early in the process to ensure employment potential of export projects is maximised. This opportunity has already been identified by the Industrial Development Authority and Enterprise Ireland in their clean technology growth strategies.

A technical review of the wind energy guidelines is being overseen by officials from the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, my Department and the SEAI. This review will examine the manner in which the guidelines address key issues of community concern such as noise, including separation distance, and shadow flicker. It will be completed this year.

Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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This is the second time that the Minister has told me that we have a renewable energy strategy but I contend that we do not. Any such strategy must contain a minimum of six features. It must specify how the impact on the environment, human health and animal health will be measured and monitored. It must outline how we would measure the impact on existing major industries, including tourism and agri-food, for example. It must specify how the interests of the host communities will be safeguarded after the awarding of the licences and how community consent will be obtained. It must further specify how the level of accessible reserves can be accurately and honestly measured and reported. It must also include an approval-granting process that is open, transparent and incapable of misuse by vested interests. Finally, it must ensure that the benefits accrue to the people of Ireland in terms of revenue to the State, employment, energy security and energy price control in the State.

Without all those features, we have the equivalent of requests for proposals being put at a car boot sale. We should be doing a lot better.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The four minutes after the Minister's two minute reply must be shared between the two sides of the House, and that is more difficult if we have long questions.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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To some degree there is a dialogue of the deaf between Deputy Colreavy and me. I would argue that five of the Deputy's six conditions are included in the strategy, and the impact on human health and animals is emphatically included. There are rigorous planning hurdles that must be complied with, including environmental impact assessments. The relative contribution of developing an energy sector based on renewables, or the relative impact of developing an export sector as compared with tourism contributions and so on, are a matter of judgment. For example, my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, deals with inland fisheries and must make a judgment on the contribution from angling tourism compared with the desire of my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, to develop a fish farming sector in Ireland. One makes a judgment call on such issues, as it is the only way to deal with them. The approval and granting process could not be more rigorous, and the planning guidelines are out for consultation at the moment. The renewable energy and wind energy strategy, as published, requires that developers have regard to community benefit, and there is an express statement in that regard.

I cannot answer about revenue to the State. If the Deputy is referring to the question of the export sector, the memorandum of understanding between me and my counterpart in London was signed in Dublin in January. It will take the completion of the intergovernmental agreement before one can make a stab at the commercial contracts that can go ahead as a result of that. That concerns how the State's stake reverts and whether it comes through equity participation, taxation, royalties and so on. That will be dealt with in the course of the year.

Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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It is interesting that although those financial matters have not yet been addressed, companies are still negotiating the lease or purchase of land in the area we are discussing. The Minister spoke about planning guidelines, and there was recently a Seanad debate on the need for statutory regulations regarding distance of turbines from occupied homes. This ranges from 500 m for those turbines under 50 m in height to 2,000 m for those turbines over 150 m in height. Should there be an effective ceiling on the height of turbines, and will the Minister consider introducing regulation rather than guidelines in this respect? There are examples of breaches of guidelines quite recently.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The Deputy is right and I hear that developers are proceeding to take options on possible sites for development in different parts of the country. That has been ongoing for 15 years. If the export possibility develops, the process will be on a larger scale.

Deputy Colreavy knows enough about the history of this country to acknowledge I cannot do anything about farmers who want to sign up to options with developers to use their land to erect a mobile telephone mast or build a wind turbine. There was a long history in the country of the fight for peasant proprietorship and my fellow county man, Michael Davitt, led that battle, even if that is not where he started out it is where he ended up. They would know about that in Leitrim and I suspect Deputy Colreavy knows there is nothing I can do with the farmer who wants to sell a site to a developer if he thinks he is getting an attractive enough offer.

We must wait until we see the outcome of the ongoing process in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in respect of the planning guidelines. There was a substantial response to the points put out and the setbacks raised by the Deputy will be included in those guidelines but we are a bit away yet from the Minister making a decision.