Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 270: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his views in regard to the generation of electricity from renewable or sustainable sources; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28143/05]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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The promotion of renewable energy technologies in electricity production is a key Government priority. This priority is shared by EU institutions through the renewables directive, Directive 2001/77/EC, which obliges all member states to increase the consumption of green electricity by 2010. The obligation addressed to Ireland is to deliver a programme capable of increasing the amount of electricity from renewable energy sources to 13.2% of total consumption by 2010.

The target of 13.2% approximates to 1,400 MW to be connected to the electricity network by 2010. It is acknowledged at EU level as a challenging target which will require us to more than double existing capacity within five years. This is the minimum target I demand. My overall target is to optimise the amount of renewable energy technologies which can be connected to the network while maintaining safe and reliable supply and reasonable retail charges for consumers.

Future challenging targets to increase wind powered stations will require co-operation and co-ordination between my Department; Sustainable Energy Ireland, SEI; the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER; the electricity networks operators; and developers. I am pleased to report that all these key players, and more, have participated in a consultation process launched in December 2003 and in the work of the subsequently established renewable energy development group. The group's report will form the basis of my future policy decisions on the increased penetration of renewable energy technologies in the electricity market and will seek to ensure developers can make a reasonable rate of return on renewable energy projects while ensuring the interests of national competitiveness and the ultimate burden of cost to the final consumer are all fully taken into consideration.

I recently announced a new support mechanism to be known as the renewable energy feed in tariff, REFIT. This revised system will move away from competitive tendering to a fixed price proposal. In addition, the support that was previously tied to contracts with the ESB will now be available for supply contracts with any licensed supplier. The detailed draft terms and conditions of the proposed feed-in support programme were posted on my Department's website, www.dcmnr.gov.ie, in draft form, on 29 September and interested parties have until today to raise any queries or to furnish any observations on the proposals as published. Following consideration of the matters raised, the REFIT programme will be put in place.

In July, my Northern counterpart, Ms Angela Smith, and I published a preliminary consultation paper on an all-island vision for renewable energy to the year 2020 and beyond. The consultation period recently ended and the response has been encouraging. The aim is to develop a long-term strategy for renewable energy on the island in its entirety.