I propose to take Questions Nos. 430 and 431 together.
Any funding as referred to by the Deputy would have to be provided for from the existing multi-annual capital envelope for my Department. In the years 2013-2015 this amounts to some €254.4 million in capital investment funds to meet all capital requirements for my Department including areas such as energy efficiency and broadband schemes. As the Deputy will appreciate, this level of available resources will require prioritisation in terms of specific allocations.
Wave energy technology is still at the research, development and demonstration stage globally. The Ocean Energy Development Unit (OEDU) in the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is working to take forward Ireland’s ocean energy programme, in line with the Government’s commitment to realise the long term economic potential of Ireland’s wave and tidal energy resources. In that context SEAI is working closely with the Marine Institute and my Department as well as the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.
SEAI is working in conjunction with ESBI, the Marine Institute and other stakeholders to establish a grid connected Atlantic Marine Energy Test Site Facility (AMETS) located off Annagh Head, west of Belmullet in County Mayo. The test site will be a key enabler for the development of an ocean energy industry in Ireland. An exploratory foreshore licence was granted to SEAI in September 2009, which enabled site investigation works to commence at the planned test site location. A foreshore lease application was submitted in December 2011 and SEAI has been working with the Foreshore Unit of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government – the application is currently in the final stages of consideration by the Foreshore Unit and it is expected that this will be concluded in the first half of 2013. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) carried out for the project has also been published.
Developing the test site remains a key part of Ireland’s Ocean Energy Strategy to ensure that Ireland is a competitive player in the European ocean energy arena and in December I granted consent to SEAI to purchase the site on which the substation for the Mayo test site is to be constructed.
Further developments at the site will be made within the context of the prioritisation of available resources as referred to at the outset of my reply taking full account of the Ocean Energy Strategy.
