Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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142. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide a breakdown of the costs that have been incurred by the different State agencies regarding the proposals to export wind energy from Ireland to England also land owners who have signed up lease options on their land; if their land will now be in effect sterilised and held up for any further potential for the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12597/14]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Ireland and the UK have made good progress on both States’ joint, innovative and ambitious work in the area of renewable energy trading since my signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey M.P. in January 2013.Both States remain committed to concluding an Inter Governmental Agreement which would facilitate the development of renewable energy projects in Ireland, both onshore and offshore. However, it is recognised that the economic, policy and regulatory complexities involved for both onshore and offshore projects, and the key decisions yet to be taken by the UK in this regard, would make 2020 delivery difficult to achieve given project lead times. For this reason, the shared work will focus on the longer term post 2020 period, and both countries will continue to work together productively on that basis.

To date, €121,000 has been committed to consultancy support required for the development of (i) a full cost benefit analysis and (ii) an appropriate framework dealing with planning, policy and regulatory issues. The outcomes from these workstreams will guide decision making on future domestic and any proposed inter-governmental initiatives.

Commercial decisions by private landowners and commercial market operators are matters for the parties concerned.