Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 837: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to reports that a package of grant assistance is currently being prepared to encourage sustainable energy, the types of renewable energy that will be included in the package; the estimated cost of this package; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29744/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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A number of innovative new sustainable energy programmes have already been launched as part of a €65 million initiative announced in the context of Budget 2006. The programme is being rolled out over a five year period and provides funding for the domestic, commercial, services and industrial sectors as follows:

The €27 million "Greener Homes" domestic renewable heat grants programme is providing grants for householders for the purpose of installing renewable heating including wood biomass boilers and stoves, solar panels and heat pumps.

The €22 million Bioheat grants programme provides grants for commercial scale wood biomass boilers aimed at the business and services sectors;

The €11 million Combined Heat and Power grants programme is providing funding for the commercial sector to switch to more efficient electricity and heat generation;

A funding programme for the development of commercial biofuels facilities will be launched shortly.

In addition to these funding measures, a number of other financial initiatives have been introduced:

In July, I launched a five-year excise relief programme for biofuels, valued at over €200 million. The programme builds on a pilot initiative rolled out in 2005, in which eight biofuels projects were granted excise relief over a two-year period.

In June, I launched the Renewable Energy Feed-in-Tariff which is providing a fixed feed-in-tariff for renewable electricity over a fifteen year period.

In support of ongoing policy development we have published five major studies on renewable electricity, bio-energy, CHP, ocean energy and renewable energy. The Bio-energy Ministerial Task Force will develop, by end-year a cohesive national bioenergy strategy. Further policy initiatives are being considered in the context of these developments and the forthcoming Green Paper on Energy Policy. The scope for future funding programmes will be considered in the context of the Estimates and Budget processes.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 838: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the remit of the Bio-Energy Task Force; the members of the Task Force and when it expects to report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29745/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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I chair the Ministerial Bio-energy Task Force on Bio-energy which was established and had its first meeting in July. Its members include the Tánaiste, and the Ministers for Finance, Agriculture and Food, Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Transport and Enterprise Trade and Employment. The Taoiseach's office is also represented. The primary objective of the Task Force is to draw up a cohesive national bio-energy strategy by the end of the year, which will set targets for deployment of bioenergy, identify priority areas for development and the necessary support measures to encourage supply and demand. This strategy will also take account of EU developments, and the views of key stake holding the Energy Green Paper consultation process.