Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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614. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when the White Paper on Energy Policy will be published; the opportunity that will be provided for public consultation; if particular consideration will be given to the future of the oil refinery in Whitegate in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18517/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The overarching objective of the Government's energy policy is to ensure secure and sustainable supplies of competitively priced energy to all consumers. A new Energy Policy Paper which will set out Ireland’s energy policy up to 2030 is being developed. To facilitate the development of the new Policy Paper, a Green Paper on Energy Policy in Ireland was published in May 2014 commencing a written public consultation process that concluded on 31 July last.

Over 1,200 submissions were received in the written consultation process. In addition, there was a targeted stakeholder consultation process involving 11 seminars with six on the priorities identified in the Green Paper, four regional seminars and a seminar on costs. My Department is now focused on finalising the detailed work required to produce the a definitive energy policy statement which I aim to publish in September 2015.

The future of the Whitegate oil refinery is primarily a commercial matter for the current owners of the refinery, Phillips 66. My Department commissioned a study into the strategic case for oil refining requirements on the island of Ireland which was published in July 2013. The key conclusion at that time was that the presence of an operational refinery on the island of Ireland provides flexibility, enhancing the options available to the State in the event of an oil supply disruption, by providing an alternative source of product thus mitigating a complete reliance on product imports. In light of that conclusion, the Government had agreed that my Department would liaise with the Irish oil industry and appropriate public bodies to determine any policy options that might facilitate the commercial future of refining in Ireland. I expect to be in a position to brief Government on the available policy options shortly.