Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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3. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views that we must significantly expand the number of district energy schemes and co-ops generating renewable energy as a means to developing sustainable energy and creating employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3959/15]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Following on from some of the Minister's earlier comments and the discussions we had during our previous session in this House, and given the concern about the focus on big industrial wind turbine projects, the Minister stated that we needed to explore alternatives and that the Government was keen to do this. What sort of focus is the Government intending to put on smaller-scale district energy projects and co-operatives in terms of trying to develop our renewable energy mix in a more sustainable way and in a way which is more acceptable to the public and to local communities?

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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This is an interesting issue which the Deputy has raised before and I thank him for raising the matter and his interest in it. One of the central themes in the Green Paper on energy policy is citizen empowerment. In 2014, my Department began a public consultation process which included a series of stakeholder seminars on the various priority areas in the Green Paper, covering a number of topics, including empowering energy citizens and putting the energy system on a sustainable pathway. A recurring message coming from both the submissions received and from the feedback from the seminars was the role that community energy could play in our future energy systems. The views submitted will be taken into account in the formation by me of the new energy policy framework.

It is important to note the various community level initiatives currently supported by Government, including the development of community energy through the better energy areas and communities programme which is administered on my behalf by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. The programme allows community and locally based organisations to apply for funding on a competitive basis to support sustainable energy upgrades to existing buildings and facilities. It also promotes the creation and development of locally based entities that can engage and mobilise community resources to lower energy bills and boost local employment. A number of district energy schemes and community co-op projects have been supported, including district heating schemes in Tralee and Longford as well as the Aran Islands energy co-operative, where the retrofit of homes and buildings on the islands has been funded with the ambition of installing community wind turbines.

Additionally, the European Union (Energy Efficiency) Regulations 2014 set out a range of requirements for the promotion of energy efficiency, including a requirement for the SEAI to undertake an assessment of the potential for the application of cost-effective district heating and combined heat and power, CHP, in Ireland. The development of biomass-fuelled CHP and district heating, as well as improving energy efficiency, has the potential to contribute to our renewable energy targets. The comprehensive assessment is expected to be completed during 2015.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Can the Minister be more specific about when be believes this will happen? I was looking over the programme for Government, which was written in 2011. It states: "We will double funding for home energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes..." I have tabled a question on the rolling out of the pay-as-you-save retrofitting scheme. Again, the programme states: "We will work to promote a greater appreciation of the co-operative model as a distinct form of organisation...including in areas such as...energy retrofitting, environmental protection..." and so on.

The Minister mentioned two or three examples, but that does not seem like a great delivery on those commitments. On the other hand, as we have discussed at length in the House, we have had big industrial wind turbine projects that have faced substantial opposition, some of which are floundering now. There was a commitment in the programme for Government to put a focus on the smaller local renewable energy projects based on co-operatives and so on, but, save for the two or three examples the Minister has cited, there does not seem to be much delivery. It seems to me that we need to move faster and far more extensively on the matter.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The Deputy has fairly raised the issue of resources and the extent to which we can find and devote more resources to these projects. It is a fair point. Resources have been scarce all around Government for reasons that are well known in the House. Anyway, I believe matters have improved. We have a budget for the support programmes that I referred to in my reply. I am keen to see us having more resources in due course to devote to these kinds of project and I have taken a generous view when meeting representatives of communities who want to bring forward projects of this nature. In the course of the next period I believe more resources will be available, just as there will be more resources available across Government, to do the things we want to do.

The question of where these community projects fit into the broader policy mix is relevant. That is a job for the definitive energy policy statement that I intend to publish in September. We are in a process at the moment in that regard. Many of these issues and ideas were signalled in the Green Paper and we are bringing them forward. I have met many individuals and groups to discuss these matters. I welcome the Deputy's input, but in terms of the overall policy sweep, it is a matter for the White Paper, which I will publish in September.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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A total of €335 million per year comes from the public service obligation levy, which is supposed to be focused on developing renewable energy. It would be interesting to see a breakdown and to discover exactly where it is going and the extent to which it is going to local projects or smaller-scale community-based projects, co-operatives and so on.

I welcome the fact that the Minister has referred to September. At least we have a date. Regardless, I believe the roll-out of these projects is rather slow. Money is available through the strategic investment fund amounting to billions of euro. Sources of funding are available. Many schemes could be self-funding if we put in some of the money up front. They would actually pay for themselves in the medium to long term. Anyway, I do not believe the roll-out, investment or focus on these things has been extensive enough.

As part of the energy review I hope the Minister will discuss an option that I have suggested to him, which was suggested to me, in turn, by the Woodland League. This is the issue of 500,000 acres of Coillte lands that are not being used by Coillte but that could be used by local communities and co-operatives to develop these kinds of project.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I take on board all of those ideas. I assure the Deputy that the more resources I can get for this, the better. I will seek to obtain as much support as possible in respect of these initiatives and I believe the Government has been supportive.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland is the body that leads and directs in this area. I encourage Deputy Boyd Barrett to engage with the authority, perhaps through me. The authority is keen to ensure that there are community supports. Many have been put in place, but we can increase the total. This can be done from a substantive point of view in terms of what the local projects can achieve for their localities.

The broader point that the Deputy makes is fair, and others have made it in this House as well. The development of energy and community buy-in is something all the citizens of the country have a stake in. "Buy-in" is the phrase that is often used. The idea is that we work together as a community to work out what our energy needs are for the future and what the various mix of energy sources should be.

I do not disagree with the Deputy, save to say that it is not true to suggest that there have been no developments. There have been a number of developments and I am keen to see more, just as he is.