Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in view of the launch of a €10 million ocean energy competition by the Scottish Government for the development of marine energy devices, that is the Saltire Prize which aims to accelerate the commercial development of wave and tidal energy technology, if such a competition would be feasible here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46146/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The ocean energy sector in Ireland is currently supported in a variety of ways. The Ocean Energy Development Unit in the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland was specifically established to advance the sector and has been administering grants through a prototype development fund, carrying out a strategic environmental assessment on our potential for ocean energy development, developing a grid connected wave test site off Annagh Head, County Mayo and working with other State bodies to advance the sector. Work has been ongoing by the Marine Institute in the ocean energy area for many years, including through the development of the SmartBay project and the Galway Bay wave test site. The INFOMAR project being taken forward by the Geological Survey of Ireland is also collecting valuable data that assists the sector.

Most universities in Ireland have researchers involved in the ocean energy area, including Galway, Maynooth and Dublin. The Coastal and Marine Research Centre in University College Cork has long had researchers engaged in ocean area along with the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre in UCC, which has been supporting the sector’s development, including through protocols for technology testing and scaling and with its wave tank facility, which was recently upgraded. The strands of research in the Cork area will be brought together in a new campus in Ringaskiddy (currently under construction) through the iMERC project, which aims to unlock our maritime and energy potential and promote Ireland as a world-renowned research and development location, with an initial focus on ocean energy.

There are no plans at present to introduce an ocean energy competition similar to the Saltire Prize mentioned, given the budgetary constraints within which we are operating.