Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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32. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources following the welcome announcement by an ICT company of its plans to develop a facility which will be fully self-reliant on renewable sources for its energy requirements, his Department's plans to enable other organisations, both public and private, to develop more sustainable energy sources and, in particular, the plans to assist with retrofitting of existing facilities. [10237/15]

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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The overarching objective of the Government's energy policy is to ensure secure, sustainable supplies of competitively priced energy to all consumers. As a State we have ambitious targets for 16% of our energy from renewable sources by 2020 through meeting 40% of electricity demand from renewable sources, with 10% renewables in transport and 12% in heat. Various schemes and initiatives are in place to incentivise the use of renewable energy:

- The REFIT schemes underpin the development of a range of renewable electricity technologies, including hydro, biomass combustion, biomass combined heat and power, landfill gas and onshore wind;

- Relatively large electricity customers, e.g. industrial users, may become autoproducers and install generation, including renewable generation, at their site to meet their needs and export any excess to the electricity grid;

- Part L of the Building Regulations supports the uptake of renewable heat and the recently published Draft Bioenergy Plan recommends the introduction from 2016 of a Renewable Heat Incentive for larger heat users to change to heating solutions that produce heat from renewable biomass;

- Investment in renewable energy is supported through tax relief incentives such as the Employment Investment Incentive scheme and the Accelerated Capital Allowance scheme.

Finally, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) provides a range of supports to businesses covering energy management, training, and advice. Businesses wishing to develop renewable energy projects and improve their energy efficiency can also avail of grant support for investment in renewable energy installations as a component of a coordinated energy efficiency programme under the Better Energy Communities scheme.