John Whelan (Labour)
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I welcome the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White, to the House. As line Minister for this important policy area, I look forward to his response. I have expressed the view on more than one occasion that the bioenergy sector has been the poor relation or Cinderella of the broad renewable energy industry. There is an apparent disregard at Department level and within the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, for the role bioenergy can play in achieving our renewable energy targets, displacing CO2 emissions, reducing imports of fossil fuels and creating jobs.

For two years, the Department dragged its heels on publishing a bioenergy policy perspective. While I am glad it has finally been produced, the delay has led to certain problems, particularly with regard to the introduction of a renewable heat incentive, RHI. It is important for the industry to know what supports will be provided and the infrastructure around the transfer from fossil fuels, namely, oil and gas, to renewables, including biomass and bioenergy. However, the start-up date for the scheme is given as some time in 2016. This uncertainty and delay has had the unforeseen consequence of impeding and stalling the sector and bringing about a chilling effect. I could refer to numerous large-scale projects that were cancelled, put on hold or are in limbo because the developers are not willing to proceed without knowing at what stage the RHI will be implemented and what terms and criteria will apply.

It is in the Minister's gift to address this issue and bring some clarity to the situation, either by bringing forward the date of implementation, actually fixing an implementation date or, even at this juncture, outlining the criteria and standards that will apply when the scheme is introduced. That would enable people to proceed with investment and advance planning for such developments. The current uncertainty is having a negative impact on the sector and obstructing job creation in rural areas and within the regions. The bioenergy sector has a large contribution to make. In fact, an as yet unpublished SEAI report indicates there are 5,000 sustainable jobs to be created in the sector if it is given its head and the opportunity to grow and prosper. Unfortunately, many of the relevant companies have relocated to the United Kingdom, which is light years ahead of us on this.

We must take a more vigorous and committed approach to the sector. We need, in the first instance, a domestic equivalent to the UK's RHI scheme.Why should we be subsidising oil and gas furnaces through the Better Homes scheme when we should be subsidising bioenergy? As the Minister knows, once families install boilers and heating systems, there is a 20-year commitment over a system's lifetime to importing oil and gas. This is counterproductive to the Government's objective of reaching our 2020 renewable targets, making our contribution towards addressing climate change, removing carbon from the system and creating sustainable jobs instead of importing fossil fuels.

As the Minister is aware, the commitment in the policy is to replace 200,000 tonnes of oil per year by 2020. It would be a major boon to the economy if we were to do so via investing in bioenergy systems. Will the Minister intervene in this matter? It is within his gift. Were clarity brought to the situation, it would help. This has the added benefit of helping the Minister to achieve his objectives as regards the 2020 targets on renewable energy and so on.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I thank Senator Whelan for raising this issue and I welcome the opportunity to address Senators on the topic.

The Senator referred to Ireland's national renewable energy action plan, NREAP, which states that we aim to meet our overall 16% renewable energy target by 2020 by achieving 40% of electricity demand from renewable sources, as well as 10% in transport and 12% in heating. I agree that energy from biomass has a critical role in meeting these ambitions for 2020 and beyond. It may interest the Senator and colleagues to know that provisional figures for 2014 show that biomass accounted for 3.6 percentage points of the 8.6 percentage points delivered by renewables, representing something in the order of 40%, which is not insignificant.

Recognising the potential to develop the bioenergy sector significantly and to address the challenges involved, I published a draft bioenergy plan last October. Analysis underpinning the draft plan demonstrates that an additional bioenergy-focused measure in the heating sector would represent the most cost-effective means of meeting a number of our policy goals. It is therefore my intention, subject to further Government approval and state aid clearance, to introduce a renewable heat incentive, RHI, in 2016. This would encourage larger heat users to change to systems that produce heat from renewable sources. The scheme is being designed to increase the amount of heat generated from renewable sources, including biomass.

There has been no delay in developing the scheme. Work is under way on developing its terms and conditions, the criteria and so on to which the Senator referred, including those relating to support tariffs and eligible technologies. These must be designed appropriately in order to ensure that the objectives of the scheme are met cost-effectively. It is important that the scheme provide maximum value for money and minimise cost to the Exchequer.

The first of three public consultations which are required to be held during the development of the RHI will commence shortly. In the meantime, my officials are considering the best ways of supporting continued investment in renewable heating solutions.

John Whelan (Labour)
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I thank the Minister for his answer. I appreciate that the RHI must be structured and work properly, but we are not trying to reinvent the wheel. Such schemes already operate in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. We are playing catch-up. I urge the Minister to put in place interim arrangements such as the triple E register standard, which is already in operation and approved by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, to ensure that people do not need to wait until 2016 before they can start the process of planning and seeking finance to prepare for such installations. As the Minister stated, many commercial and industrial operators would gladly embrace this technology, which is of considerable benefit in terms of job creation. We could embark on exemplar projects that would need to spend a great deal of time in the pipeline, such as district heating systems for clusters of buildings, hospitals, prisons and schools in Portlaoise. Bringing forward the date or improving clarity would be helpful in terms of import substitution, our CO2 targets and job creation.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I reassure the Senator that the scheme will be introduced as soon as possible. We must put together relatively complex elements of a new scheme in terms of how to incentivise and how to fund it.We have to apply for state aid approval in respect of many of these types of measures, as the Senator will be aware, but there has been no delay in bringing the scheme forward. I appreciate his enthusiasm for this sector, which he has raised in the House previously. He is right and it is up to me to ensure this scheme is brought forward as soon as possible. That is what I will do but it will be 2016 before we can implement the scheme we intend putting in place. I understand and have sympathy with the Senator's frustration on giving an advance indication of what the criteria will be. However, the criteria constitute the scheme. We are not in a position to introduce a scheme gradually. We must ensure it is done properly and that there is proper consultation on it. The Senator and the House should be assured that there will no inordinate delay in bringing forward this important scheme and that I, in particular, am committed to it.