Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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104. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his Department is planning measures to facilitate community renewable energy generation initiatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38980/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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Various community level energy initiatives are supported by my Department through the Better Energy Areas and Communities Programme which is administered on behalf of the Department by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). That programme allows community and locally based organisations to apply for funding on a competitive basis to support sustainable energy upgrades to existing buildings and facilities. It also promotes the creation and development of locally based entities that can engage and mobilise community resources to lower energy bills and boost local employment. €19.6m in grants have been approved under the Better Energy Communities Programme 2015.

One of the central themes in the Green Paper on Energy Policy, published in May 2014, is citizen empowerment. Since its publication, the Department undertook a public consultation process which included analysis of over 1,200 written submissions and thirteen stakeholder seminars on the various priority areas highlighted in the Green Paper. A recurring message coming from both the written submissions and the seminars was the role that community energy could play in our future energy systems. The views submitted on this and other matters are being considered in the formulation of the Energy White Paper, which will be published before the end of the year.