John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

The rate of forestry cover is the lowest in Europe. That is fair enough. I agree with the objective of having more forestry cover, but the sad reality, from the last couple of budgets we have had, is that there have been drastic cuts in the grants provided for people who want to plant their land. Once a farmer or landowner takes the initiative in setting aside land for forest, the land is gone out of circulation and there is no alternative and no income source other than grants and the thinnings that can be taken from time to time. The grant structure is essential if we want to see an increase in the amount of land planted in the next few years. Yet the Government's policy has been to reduce the level of grants significantly for those who have planted forest on some or all of their farms.

I am also interested, perhaps purely from the point of view of being a nosey politician, in the Minister's comments about combined heat and power plants. In the formerly Communist countries of Eastern Europe there is a tradition of plants' providing heat for houses in the vicinity and indeed for whole towns. The Minister mentions that 3.6% of our heat comes from this source. I would like to know what this 3.6% is and where it comes from, because I was not aware we had any.

Another issue that people raise with me every now and then is that of electric cars. Many people have a view - the Minister of State might enlighten me on whether this is correct - that because the production of some hybrid cars releases large amounts of carbon dioxide and they contain large lead batteries which present the potential for significant environmental impact when these cars go out of use, they are not necessarily the clean vehicles we are sometimes led to believe they are. I am not saying I believe this is the case, but I ask the Minister to outline his views on this in his concluding remarks.

On the issue of wind generation, I would like to raise with the Minister a point that has been brought up several times with the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources by the Irish Wind Energy Association, that is, micro-generation. If a farmer, or somebody running a small business, installs a back-up energy supply in the form of a generator, he will get VAT back on the purchase of the generator, but if he wishes to install a small wind turbine, the 3.5% VAT rate will still apply. That seems to be an anomaly. It has been raised by the IWEA a few times but it has not received a satisfactory reply. In addition, the tariff paid to producers of wind energy in the Republic is significantly lower than that in Northern Ireland. Maybe there are specific reasons for this; the Minister of State might explain this in this concluding remarks.

One of the proposals included in the renewed programme for Government was a climate change Bill. Without wishing to be political, I must point out that the Green Party is semi-detached from the Government following its announcement on Monday. Where stands the climate change Bill? If we are to have a general election in January, February or March, when will the Bill come before the Houses?

Fine Gael has produced, through Deputy Coveney's NewERA document, proposals on how the Government will lead by example in sourcing the energy used in Government Buildings and in Government facilities around the country. If we are to achieve our target of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, State agencies and authorities must lead by example. Deputy Coveney's document mentions this specifically. I am aware the Government has mentioned a similar objective which has not yet come to fruition, but the Minister of State might be able to enlighten me if I am incorrect.

A media report earlier this month indicated the Government was to seek EU approval within a few weeks for a renewable energy subsidy that would unlock early investment of €3 billion in offshore wind farms. In his concluding remarks the Minister of State might be able to clarify whether the Minister, Deputy Ryan, or whoever is handling it has been successful in getting that funding. Obviously wind energy installations by their nature are very costly in terms of their initial outlay. Needless to say wind turbines built offshore would be significantly more costly and therefore the need for that additional €3 billion is quite obvious. Perhaps the Minister of State might have some good news for us on that point.

We have made significant strides with nearly 15% of our energy produced from renewable sources. From media reports I researched before this debate, I believe that on one day in April 50% of our energy was produced by wind. However, the difficulty with wind is that we cannot be guaranteed it will blow every day and there will be gaps in supply that will need to be met from other sources.

Most of my contribution has comprised questions to the Minister of State and I hope he will be able to provide answers to some of the issues I have raised. It is good to have this discussion. When I was a member of my local authority I remember being involved in drafting the wind energy strategy in County Kilkenny. At the time the officials took a very narrow approach to it and were considering a couple of areas in the county which were largely Coillte owned forests for locating wind energy facilities. However, since then following the intervention of the much maligned councillors, other areas were opened up and wind turbines have been built without significant local objection. They are succeeding in providing a significant amount of energy when one considers the sparse population of such rural areas. I have always been convinced of the potential of wind energy and am a firm supporter of the investment the Government has made in wave and tidal energy, in which we must invest. Our fossil fuels will run out at some point in the future and given that Ireland is so dependent on those fossil fuels, any potential price increases in the future could have seriously detrimental effects on the economy. It is our responsibility to produce as much energy as we can from our own renewable sources. It is the one area in which I am in complete harmony with the Green Party, which has done good work in that regard both in its time in government and before it went into government.