I wish to ask about the promise on page 35 of the programme for Government to prioritise the development of microgeneration, letting people sell excess power back to the grid by June 2021. I wholeheartedly support this objective which was proposed by my colleague, Teachta Brian Stanley, in the form of the Microgeneration Support Scheme Bill 2017. This Bill had cross-party support but unfortunately the legislation fell with the last Dáil. We need to incentivise the use of microgeneration equipment such as household wind turbines and solar panels so they will be more affordable to ordinary homeowners. We spend too much time incentivising industrial wind turbines that are a blight on our landscape and have little benefit except to foreign pension funds and foreign government bodies such as the Norwegian company, Statkraft. How does the Government propose to deliver on that date, as promised, which is just nine months out?

The Government supports microgeneration and will continue to do so. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, will be publishing a groundbreaking climate Bill today which will set far-reaching targets for the country and our society. I believe it will be transformative in its impact. That said, microgeneration on its own will not meet the energy needs of the country into the future. Renewable energy and wind energy in particular have been very significant for electricity generation here and will continue to be. The move will be to go offshore in a substantial way. Offshore wind generation is where I see the major growth over the next years in powering the country forward. Incentivising microgeneration for people on the ground is something the Government will be attending to and dealing with.