Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 16: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress made in the pilot scheme for smart electronic metres; when the pilot scheme will commence; the number of houses it will cover; when it will be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21384/08]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 23: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress he has made in rolling out electricity smart meters; when the pilot project will be finished; the provisional findings from this project which have been established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21427/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 23 together.

The rollout of a national smart meter programme is progressing in line with the commitment in the Government's Energy Policy Framework and in the Programme for Government. The Smart Meter programme is a central component of our strategy to significantly enhance management of demand for electricity and to achieve greater energy efficiency through the use of cutting-edge technology.

The delivery of smart metering requires a collective response. This is a technically complex and ambitious initiative. The Steering Group overseeing programme implementation is chaired by the Commission for Energy Regulation and includes representation from Sustainable Energy Ireland, ESB Networks, ESB Customer Supply and independent suppliers as well as my Department.

There are also four working groups, reporting directly to the Steering Group, which are mandated to progress the complex technical aspects of smart metering including Tariffs, Billing/Data Services, Networks and Customer Behaviour.

I can confirm that the installation of meters for the pilot phase will get underway by this summer. ESB Networks is currently engaged in the final stages of a tender process to select smart meters for testing in this pilot phase.

In parallel, work is well advanced on the design of the customer behaviour and tariff aspects of the pilot phase, led by Sustainable Energy Ireland and ESB Customer Supply respectively.

In addition, good progress has also been made on the preparation of an interim data solution to be used during the pilot to deal with the much expanded quantity of data which will be generated by the interval reading functionality of smart metering.

The combined results of these work streams will define the number of installations necessary to achieve the objectives of the pilot phase. It is expected that the pilot phase will last for a year. The objective remains to complete the national smart meter programme in five years, thereby providing a cost effective electricity metering system which will deliver tangible benefits to all consumers of electricity.