Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 May 2021
147. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the funding and supports that have been provided to develop job opportunities and investment in offshore island communities in the production and generation of offshore renewable wind, wave and tidal energy in each of the past five years. [23817/21]
View answerLast year, Ireland signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Clean Energy for EU Islands Initiative, recognising the important role islands can play in realising the objectives of the European Green Deal. It sets out the objective to establish a long-term framework for cooperation to advance the energy transition for islands. Regarding funding and supports to develop job opportunities and investment in offshore island communities, the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) is the main government support to help deliver on Ireland’s 70% renewable electricity target by 2030. The scheme has a number of community features designed to ensure community, including island community, participation.
Of particular interest to island communities are the provisions of the Community Benefit Fund and the Community-led category. The former provides for all RESS projects to share project revenues with local communities for sustainable purposes and the latter provides a route to market for community-led projects. To better support communities in bringing forward community-led projects, an enabling framework is currently under development by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland(SEAI), to which I have allocated €3 million in capital supports this year.
