Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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227. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the studies completed into the environmental damage caused by tidal energy power systems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10497/14]

Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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229. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the amount of energy Ireland currently receives from tidal sources; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10499/14]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 227 and 229 together.

The potential of the offshore renewable energy sector to be a source of sustainable employment and growth in the green economy has been consistently identified by Government and by the European Commission in its recent Communication on 'Blue Energy'. Currently, there are no tidal electricity generation facilities connected to the Irish grid. However, tidal energy, along with wave energy and offshore wind, is one of the sectors identified for development in the Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP), which I published on 7 February. The OREDP will facilitate the development of our abundant offshore renewable energy across the three key pillars of environmental sustainability, technical feasibility and commercial viability.

To ensure that the economic potential of offshore renewable energy is realised in a way that is environmentally sustainable, and takes into account the needs of other users of the marine environment, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) was carried out for the OREDP. The overall conclusion of the SEA was that it would be possible to achieve the high scenario of 4,500 MW from offshore wind and 1,500 MW of wave and tidal devices without likely significant adverse effect on the environment. Nevertheless, the SEA identified the need for collection and dissemination of data, and the monitoring of any potential significant environmental impacts arising from the development of offshore renewable energy installations (including tidal).

Establishing the environmental monitoring requirements for offshore renewable developments will, therefore, be an early task in the implementation of the OREDP. The OREDP, and the documentation relating to the SEA, are on my Department's website at .