Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

He does this within a fixed timetable as prescribed in the legislation. There is no discretion. The PSO levy is in place to compensate suppliers using a range of strategic sustainable local energy resources that we need to encourage in order that we will not be completely reliant on imported fossil fuels. This makes sense for us as one of the countries most dependent on imported fossil fuels.

Our AER contracts and other support contracts for wind were below the market price when gas and electricity prices increased. In the past four or five years, they subsidised the rest of the market to the tune of approximately €250 million. Wind continues to keep prices low because when the wind blows expensive plant is switched off and we switch to wind for which the fuel price is zero. The support provided to wind through the PSO means wind operators know that when electricity prices decrease, as they have done in the past two years, they will continue to receive a steady return on their investment. This enables them to secure financing for their sites and projects. This is the approach taken by every country that is succeeding in developing renewable supplies. Feed-in support prices are intelligent and they work.

The Fine Gael Party should be careful about threatening to cut the legs from under the wind industry if it gets into government because it will kill a sector that is involved in spending a-----