The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Dermot Ahern, has said that Sustainable Energy Ireland will be relocated from Dublin to his home town of Dundalk.
Mr Ahern said 42 jobs in the body that is responsible for the promotion of renewable energy would move to an office at the Dundalk Institute of Technology. This would see the Co Louth town "become the national centre-point for the renewable energy revolution", he said.
The agency is charged with improving energy efficiency, advancing the deployment of renewable energy and reducing the environmental impact of energy production, particularly greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr Ahern said the body will be located in a purpose-built ecologically friendly building in the campus. Its presence in Dundalk would complement the Centre for Renewable Development, which is already on the institute's campus.
The chairman of Sustainable Energy Ireland, Mr Frank Convery, said its new location close to the Border would partner the development and implementation of an all-island sustainable energy strategy.
"Work with key local, national and European stakeholders will help make the Dundalk region a model sustainable community that demonstrates in a practical way the benefits of best practice in both energy conservation and the use of renewables in industrial, commercial, residential and transportation uses," said Mr Convery.
Separately, it emerged that the new maritime safety agency will be established in an east coast location outside Dublin although a decision has not been finalised.
However, Dublin has been ruled out because of decentralisation. With concern increasing about the security of shipping, an east coast location is preferred because the State's busiest shipping lanes are on the Irish Sea.
The new agency will be responsible for all aspects of search and rescue, and will be the regulatory body for the licensing of vessels and maintenance of the national shipping register.
