Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The REFIT 1 scheme is a feed in tariff support scheme that is payable for up to fifteen years for qualifying projects up to 31 December 2025. The scheme was formally cleared under the State Aid rules by the EU Commission and any changes to the scheme require further Commission approval.

The terms and conditions of REFIT 1 provided that the Minister could grant a project an extension of time if the reasons for delay in bringing the project to fruition warranted it. The backstop date of 31 December 2025 remained in force. Planning delays slowed down a number of expected grid reinforcement dates and through no fault of their own, project developers were not in a position to build out their projects in the original timeframes envisaged. This resulted in projects building from January 2011 onwards that would not be in a position to avail of the full 15 years the first REFIT support programme envisaged.

My Department is seeking approval from the Commission to extend the backstop date on REFIT 1 by two years, up to the end of 2027.