Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I very much welcome the publication of this Green Paper, Towards a Sustainable Energy Future for Ireland. I strongly support the grants and incentives for alternative and renewable energy. Senator O'Toole asked about the availability of wood pellets and wood chips. I know they are available in north Galway and I hope they are available throughout the country. The grants for alternative energy should be made available for other projects, for example, windmills and heat pumps. It is important to consider such areas.

Controversy has arisen with regard to wind farms. I do not think they destroy the environment but believe they can be very effective when located in isolated areas. Some years ago, an attempt to construct a wind farm on Inis Meáin was opposed, but when I visited the island last year, I saw that the wind farm had been developed in an environmentally friendly manner. If wind farms can be successful on a small island, they can also be built in other parts of the country.

There have been well publicised reports on the dangers of constructing wind farms close to houses. People have described the sound from the turbines as being similar to an aircraft hovering overhead. Wind farms are obviously located too close to houses when they affect television reception, but similar concerns were expressed about mobile telephone masts. Proper development and planning should require that any such installations are located away from houses.

The Minister of State referred to volatility in oil and gas prices which is a significant obstacle to devising sustainable policies and predicting world energy trends. In recent months, we have seen the way in which energy prices first rose, then fell. The Government has set a commendable target of producing 30% of Ireland's electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020, which represents a doubling of the 2010 target. I welcome that target and hope we will be able to achieve it. The other target of achieving a 20% reduction in energy demand by 2020 is also important. The Power of One campaign has been successful in publicising this issue. I hope we will be able to build an interconnector with other countries to ensure electricity supplies. With regard to housing, the greener homes campaign has been very effective in encouraging people to switch to energy efficient options such as insulation and low wattage bulbs.

I welcome the reference in the Green Paper to the three pillars, namely, security of supply, sustainability and competitiveness. With regard to security of supply, I hope we will be able to bring gas ashore to supply the entire country. The north west felt excluded in the past and that is one of the reasons for the protests against the Corrib project. It will be important for us to address greenhouse gas emissions and I hope we can provide incentives to do so while remaining conscious of the Kyoto Protocol. It is also important that we implement mechanisms which provide for competition and a liberalised regime for gas and electricity. I welcome the Green Paper because it will provide the path towards Ireland's sustainable energy future.