Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the plans, if any, he has to provide funding for schools who wish to use renewable energy on their premises; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16194/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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My Department is at the forefront of design with respect to sustainable energy efficiency (including water conservation and efficiency) in school buildings and this performance has been recognised at both National and International level with sustainable energy awards for excellence in Design and Specification.

The Departments Technical Guidance Documents set the benchmark for sustainable design in school buildings with a clear focus on energy efficiency and they are based on solid energy research projects. The Departments policy is supported by a strong research programme with forty research projects at various stages including its energy website at www.energyineducation.ie.

Schools that are designed and built in accordance with the Departments Schools technical guidance documents must achieve an A3 Building Energy Rating. All new technologies and approaches are tested to ensure compatibility with school design and operational requirements. Successful and repeatable results are then incorporated into all new school designs and refurbishments.

In the interest of sustainability, it is critical that renewable applications are properly suited to the schools needs and not just applied for the sake of having a renewable tag on a school. It is also critical that we minimise the demand for energy before we invest in renewable energy applications. This has been assisted in previous years with the wall and attic insulation programme and the water conservation programme.

The Department have been using test schools to evaluate the suitability of renewable energy options for schools for the past seven years. Over 40% of the research programme features renewable aspects. Results from these projects indicate that the application of renewables do not present a viable solution in existing schools due to a number of variables such as energy and water usage profiles etc. A summary of these findings are publicly available on the schools energy website at www.energyineducation.ie.

For the Deputy's information, the results of the application of wind energy schemes in schools indicate that given the scale of application to match demand and capacity in a meaningful way, that schools rather than be provided with funding individually should instead be encouraged to consider the use of wind generated electricity which is available nationally through the National Grid. This in effect allows the school to benefit from the environmental and lower cost benefits of wind generated electricity without being exposed to operating and maintenance issues and reliability of supply.

The potential for renewables in schools is under continued review by my Departments Energy Research Programme with continued research and by monitoring improvements in technology and the market place.