Energy issues are very much centre-stage right now, nationally, in the EU and world-wide and the groundwork which resulted in the creation of the Irish Energy Council commenced a strategic review of the whole energy research area some time ago. This was followed up through last year by extensive consultation with interested parties, resulting in my decision to establish the Council. The Council has a number of important tasks to undertake. These include making recommendations to me on priority areas for research, and helping to ensure that energy research policy sits well with national energy policy, as well as relevant policy in transport, environment, agriculture, enterprise, science and education. I have required the Council to have regard to the all-Island dimension in doing its work, which I believe is important in the light of other joined-up work we are doing in the energy sector.
The role of SEI is not diluted by the creation of the Council. SEI is the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, and the Council is a non-statutory body. The Council is intended to be a light-touch co-ordinating body which will provide the framework within which SEI and other agencies involved with energy research can work more effectively, and it will also address issues which are somewhat outside the remit of the existing players, such as developing and maintaining the appropriate research capacity, both intellectual and physical, to serve our needs on a long-term basis. A sum of €3.5M was provided in this year's Estimates for Energy RTDI (which means energy research, technological development and innovation), and includes the work of the Council. The exact amount of money required by the Council itself has not been determined, and will not be until the Council has itself got itself properly into gear.
