The first item of correspondence is a letter from Sustainable Energy Ireland informing the committee on progress made in implementing the accelerated capital allowances for energy efficiency equipment. The correspondence is self-explanatory and is displayed on members' screens. As they will know, the most recent Finance Bill outlined a number of measures to assist in tackling climate change with the specific aim of reducing carbon emissions in line with EU targets. One of these measures is the accelerated capital allowances for energy efficiency equipment, ACA, which enables businesses to write off the entire cost of a limited set of energy efficient motors, lighting and building energy management systems in the first year of purchase. The Finance Bill sets out the limitations on products that will qualify and specifies that the SEI will hold the list of qualifying equipment. We note the correspondence.
The second item of correspondence is a personal notice about a lecture to be given in the RDS Concert Hall on 12 May at 7 p.m., the title of which is Nuclear Energy - Why is it on the Agenda? The details of it are in members' correspondence. That correspondence is noted.
The third item of correspondence is an invitation to a climate change information event as part of the climate change awareness campaign, representatives of which appeared before the committee a few weeks ago. That correspondence is noted.
Item D is an e-mail from Mr. Tom Behan who represents a company called Cool Power which installs photovoltaic systems. The writer has offered to brief the committee on the obstacles facing the solar power industry. It is a policy of the committee that we do not invite individual companies to make presentations to us; otherwise, we would be hearing sales pitches here all year. The clerk has offered to engage with Mr. Behan, note his correspondence and address any of the issues he has directed to us all individually.
