I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 19, inclusive, together.

The Department of the Taoiseach tracks the delivery of actions committed to by Government Departments in the climate action plan and publishes quarterly progress reports. The progress report for quarter 1 of the Climate Action Plan 2025 was published in July 2025. The latest progress report was published in January and is available on my Department's website. It details progress made on actions due for delivery in quarters 2 and 3 of 2025. The report also covers progress on actions delayed from quarter 1, as well as delayed actions from 2023 and 2024. In total, 23 of the 39 new actions due to be completed during the two quarters were delivered on time. Of the 54 high impact actions delayed from 2023 and 2024, ten were completed by the end of quarter 3. The progress report for the final quarter of 2025 is currently being compiled and will be published following consideration by the Government.

The programme for Government restates our determination that Ireland, together with our EU partners, will play its full part in tackling climate change - protecting this and future generations. It is clear that change is under way across our economy and society to steer Ireland towards a low-carbon future. Reducing emissions is now at the heart of all our policies and sectors. We are seeing encouraging signs. Ireland’s emissions have been falling for the past three years, and we now have lower overall emissions than at any point in the last 35 years, despite our population growing by 50% over that period. We are making real progress in the deployment of renewable energy, surpassing our electric vehicle targets for last year, and we are making sustained investment in enhancing the energy performance of our homes and thereby lowering emissions and energy costs for householders. Since 2019, almost €1.7 billion has been invested through SEAI schemes to support over 240,000 home energy upgrades. These actions are reaping rewards.

However, the latest EPA projections tell us that we have to go further - tackling climate action faster and at scale, particularly over the next five years. The Government is committed to reducing Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels, taking the necessary steps to ensure Ireland's long-term energy security and unlocking opportunities for economic growth. Quickly developing a vibrant offshore wind sector is central to this objective. This task requires the collective skills and effort of the public and private sectors, working together, to make the most of this opportunity.

Following on from successful discussions at the Government industry forum last July, I have established an offshore wind energy clearing house with the aim of tackling barriers to the timely delivery of offshore wind energy. This clearing house provides a forum where barriers to the development of offshore energy can be addressed by the heads of relevant Government Departments and public sector organisations together with industry representatives. It supports and enhances the efforts of the existing offshore wind delivery task force, chaired by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien. The clearing house has met on two occasions, and its next meeting will take place later this month.

The programme for Government also committed to taking decisive action to provide warmer, more comfortable homes, as part of our drive to support climate change, energy affordability, security and sustainability. We launched the National Residential Retrofit Plan 2026 recently. It will make home energy upgrades more affordable and accessible to many more homeowners.

The commitments to invest in onshore solar and wind, but particularly in offshore renewables, is critical to meet our climate objectives but also for reasons of energy security. The Taoiseach might outline further the work of the offshore wind energy clearing house. There are concerns we will not meet our offshore renewable targets originally set for 2030 but if we can meet them for 2031 or 2032, that will be welcome.

Equally, if there is further progress on the private wires Bill, when we can see a direct connection between the generator of energy, be it a wind farm, solar farm, homes, a factory or digital infrastructure, that will be extremely welcome as well. I would be grateful for an update on those.

We have apologies from Deputy Ciarán Ahern.

The provision of public transport should play a huge part in climate action. Unfortunately, in my constituency of Wicklow, Go-Ahead provides many of our services.

It is just not up to scratch. It is plagued with problems in providing the service. There are ghost buses and buses that will just drive by people and not pick them up, particularly teenagers. We have buses that refuse to go on the predetermined route. They will actually bypass a road they are meant to go down and instead just drive to the nearest village. I will tell the Taoiseach how bad this is. I am really annoyed with this. There is a young lady in my constituency who has intellectual and physical disabilities. She got on her bus from her day service. That bus was meant to go down her road. Again, the bus driver refused to go down and brought her to the next village. It was dark, it was lashing rain, and that bus driver put her out when he got to Newcastle village and would not bring her back to Kilcoole. She was left on the side of the road by herself. It is not acceptable. The service Go-Ahead is providing is not sufficient. I ask that the Taoiseach look at the contract that was provided to it because it has never once provided a sufficient service in Wicklow.

In August of last year, I was out ill at the time, but Deputy Murphy raised on my behalf and our area's behalf the issue of gorse fires in Cherrywood. As the Taoiseach knows, Cherrywood is the biggest residential development the country. I did not realise, to be honest, that gorse is very dangerous when it is burned. It is very toxic. These fires went on, basically, for several weeks. The residents are saying that, really, there was no proper planning or co-ordination between different State agencies in terms of responding to this. The fires continued. People were passing the parcel between the HSE, the council, fire services and so on as to who was actually responsible. Meanwhile, these dangerous toxic pollutants were going into people's homes. The monitoring of them was completely inadequate because it was not incident-specific. The monitoring stations were far away where they would not be able to capture the damage that was being done from the fires. The report shows significant negative health impacts. What people really want to know is that the Government is going to take it seriously, that there is a proper emergency response plan and that there is co-ordination between different Government agencies in assessing the health risk and, indeed, being able to respond to these emergencies.

For years, we have been told that the Government's climate targets are legally binding, and the implication was that, therefore, heaven and earth would be moved in order to meet those targets. Then, in January, we heard from the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, that the Government is not going to meet the targets, and it did not announce any measures or have any plan to announce any measures to actually close the gap and meet those targets. The contrast between what the Taoiseach said when he went to COP 30 in Brazil and then the reality of what the Government is doing on the ground could not be more stark. Temperatures are rising, and the clock is ticking. If we are not prepared to tell our citizens the truth about this, we are failing them and this planet in the most profound way. Does the Taoiseach accept that his Government is failing the people of this country in the most profound way by bowing down to big tech corporations and the fossil fuel industry and putting their interests before the needs of our people? It is encapsulated by the strategic gas emergency reserve Bill, which is going to entrench reliance on the dirtiest fossil fuel on the earth - dirtier than coal. The Government is watering down commitments of the climate Act in the Bill to say that they should obey this Act to the extent that they consider practicable. The Taoiseach must reverse course on this.

We are seeing the devastating consequences of a deepening climate crisis and persistently high youth unemployment at the same time. It is time to recognise the enormous employment potential associated with the ambitious climate action plan and capitalise on this huge economic opportunity. Investment in renewable energy and retrofitting in sustainable agriculture, public transport and green technology can create thousands of secure, well-paid jobs across the island. Successful projects like the Skillnet Offshore Wind Academy, which is a partnership with Wind Energy Ireland, that address critical skills gaps in the offshore sector should be replicated to provide permanent career paths for young people struggling to find stable employment or being forced to emigrate. What concrete measures is the Government is taking to align the climate action targets with a comprehensive job strategy that upskills young workers, builds a strong cohort of skilled individuals for the future economy and finally tackles youth unemployment? Will the Taoiseach commit to ensuring that this green transition delivers not only on climate targets but also on real employment opportunities for the next generation?

The urbanisation of our flood plains and the mass removal of native trees and hedgerows in recent decades have drastically reduced our land's ability to hold excess water. Alongside conventional engineering schemes, we need to maximise our potential for nature-based approaches to flood management. There is a clear opportunity here for farmers to be paid a premium for taking measures such as the construction of leaky dams and ponds and the planting of native trees on their land. Cork County Council commissioned a survey into such measures upstream from Midleton in August 2024, raising hope locally that these options would form part of the wider flood response, yet this report has still not been published and there is little sign that this work is being actively pursued. Nature-based measures are not a silver bullet to flood risk, but international experience shows they can be very effective around particular settlements. They can often be delivered quickly, at relatively low cost and without the need for planning permission. They are a win-win for people at risk of flooding, farmers and biodiversity. Will Government now ensure that nature-based solutions to flood management are actively advanced alongside structural works, with the ambition, co-ordination and leadership that affected communities need?

Ar dtús, táim chun labhairt faoi rud éigin seachas Baile Átha Cliath Thuaidh. Tá mé ag iarraidh labhairt faoi plug-in solar in apartment builds. During the formation of Government, private wire legislation was a huge aspect of my priorities. While I was studying engineering and renewables in Dublin City University, DCU, plug-in solar was being implemented across Germany. As part of our climate action plan, plug-in solar is an easily installed quick fix to the energy crisis, especially for those in apartment dwellings. Will this simple affordable technology that allows people, essentially, renters in lower income households who cannot afford full rooftop systems, to generate their own electricity and reduce bills immediately be progressed? At a time when people's energy costs remain a real pressure, this measure can support struggling households. Will the Taoiseach outline whether we will see movement on plug-in solar in Ireland and whether it will be included in the next phase of the climate action plan?

Climate Action Plan 2025 commits to scaling nature-based strategies, yet the Climate Change Advisory Council of Ireland has warned that we could face €26 billion in EU fines if we fail to deliver adequate protection measures. At the same time, and counter to the plan's commitment, the Government is actually considering licensing over 40,000 tonnes of seaweed to be harvested off the coast of counties Mayo and Galway. Removing seaweed, which is a vital natural buffer against flooding, will put communities at risk along with livelihoods, biodiversity and the coast itself. To make matters worse, Ireland still has no national coastal management strategy. This is overdue since 2021, with a draft sitting idle since 2023. How can the climate action plan claim to deliver climate resilience and protect communities from flooding when solutions it commits to are underfunded? It is critically important that seaweed across the west coast is protected for coastal communities.

I welcome the announcement today of the national regional roads funding and over €40 million for my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. Some of these projects have been ongoing for quite some time. In particular, I want to pay tribute to the N25 committee in south Kilkenny, a voluntary organisation that has prioritised and highlighted this issue so strongly. Investment of €1 million to allow this scheme to go to the next stage is hugely beneficial for that community, and there is €600,000 for the N24 around the Mooncoin direction, again a hugely worthwhile project. The Callan bypass is to receive over €2.2 million, which is going to be fantastic for that community. In terms of the climate action piece, however, the road at the quay in Thomastown had been fading away, and it was a huge danger and a huge risk. To be fair to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Taoiseach, the announcement of €300,000 for this element of the quay to be upgraded is fantastic. In south Kilkenny on The Rower, right beside New Ross, which some of our colleagues will know, €1.4 million has been allocated for the upgrade of the ferry bridge, which is disintegrating on a daily basis.

I compliment the Taoiseach and the Minister. A huge allocation has been made for roads and there is record funding in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. Earlier the Taoiseach mentioned the contingency funding for roads devastated by flooding. I hope that the significant applications of Carlow and Kilkenny for additional one-off funding, extra to what was announced today, are looked on very favourably.

Hundreds of thousands of people are living in commuter hell in this country. Hundreds of thousands of people are now spending four hours a day travelling to and from work. They are being charged higher taxes on their fuel and higher tolls for the pleasure of doing this. In Meath, 60,000 people have no option but to use their cars because of the lack of public transport. The Taoiseach's friend Noel Dempsey promised in 1994 that a rail line would be built. There is no construction date and no ring-fenced funding for the project. It has not been listed in the Government's national development plan for construction to start before 2030. The planning is on the go for sure but completion at the very earliest will be in 2036. That is 42 years from concept to completion. A person who started work when Noel Dempsey promised this project will have retired before the project is even finished, and that is if there are no judicial reviews or any change in the economy in the meantime. Will the Taoiseach commit to a construction date before 2030, or at the very least, will he commit that the Navan to Drogheda rail line, which is a fully functional rail line, will be retasked and repurposed for passenger use?

I want to raise the ongoing review of the 2006 wind energy guidelines. Revised guidelines have been promised for many years at this stage, as the Taoiseach is aware. In my constituency, and particularly in the north Galway area, we are facing a huge number of developments in communities such as Clonberne, Killimordaly, Barnaderg, Shancloon and Laurclavagh, to name but a few. The 2006 guidelines were brought forward when turbines were a fraction of the size of modern turbines. They do not protect communities from these developments. The guidelines are totally out of date. I ask that the Taoiseach provide an update on the work that has been undertaken to review these guidelines and a timeline for when updated guidelines will be in place.

I want to bring up once again the issue of Carlinn Hall in Dundalk and its communal heating system. There are approximately 200 homes there. I have met the SEAI and third-party operators that are looking at a possible renewable solution involving heat pumps. I have spoken to the local authority. A huge piece of work needs to be done with the management committee and the residents. They are only putting the proposal together. The fact is that we would need to make sure there is flexibility from the SEAI and the Government from the point of view of funding, whether that is the support scheme for renewable heat or the heat pump grant that is available. I would think that is absolutely necessary.

We have dealt with flood protection multiple times in the last two weeks. I welcome the promises from Louth County Council. It is dealing with the Office of Public Works, OPW, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, was in the constituency lately. We need to make sure Uisce Éireann plays its part. There is an infrastructural deficit impacting even where I live myself, in the Bay Estate and Cluan Enda area in Dundalk.

We all accept the transition needed in our energy system. We need renewables and investment and we need to tackle climate change seriously, but we cannot balance climate ambition on the backs of working families. Most countries that are transitioning their energy production to renewable sources are now seeing decreases in the price of electricity. Why are Irish families not seeing that? Why are they still paying the third-highest household electricity prices in Europe? Why are more than 300,000 households now behind on their electricity bills? That is 70,000 more in arrears than this time last year. The difference is that the Government has pulled the energy credits. People are working flat out and still falling behind. This data is from the start of winter and, undoubtedly, things have become much worse during January and the first two weeks of February. When gas is counted, almost 500,000 households are in arrears. While families are being hammered, the Government seems to shrug its shoulders and play denial, saying it is not going into energy credits. We need to see it happen because families are struggling in my constituency, in the Taoiseach's constituency and in many others across the State.

I thank all of the Deputies who asked questions. There were quite a number. Deputy Byrne raised the issue of the offshore wind clearinghouse and the private wires Bill. The offshore wind clearinghouse is where we bring in the industry to meet Departments and regulators to discuss generic issues. It is not specific to any company but is to cut through a lot of the to'ing and fro'ing and ask what the potential barriers are to getting offshore wind farms over the line. There have been different challenges. In more recent times, the inflationary costs in supply chains have increased somewhat. There have been negative challenges because of US policy towards wind energy and its impact on some of the companies. However, we are progressing. We are putting in a huge effort. I spoke to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, this morning about all of this. He is very focused. He has the task force also. The industry has been reassured about the Government's commitment to really getting the first couple of offshore wind platforms going, certainly from 2030 onwards. That is key. The private wires Bill is progressing. It is important legislation and I look forward to it coming through.

Deputy Whitmore raised the issue of public transport and the Go-Ahead service. She should complain to the National Transport Authority, which awards the contracts. If there are issues with the contracts, they should be raised with the NTA.

Deputy Boyd Barrett raised an important issue. It is a serious public health issue as well as a health and safety issue. I will check with the national emergency co-ordination group to see whether there is an evaluation of what happened and whether we have a report outlining what transpired. I do think we have a challenge with co-ordination between agencies. We have challenges with the readiness and the capacity of local authorities in terms of emergencies, be it a flooding emergency or a gorse fire, as in this case. Last week, I convened a meeting in respect of the last storm, focusing on co-ordination and people working together to make sure that someone is in charge if something happens and that it gets done. I do not think we are at the optimal stage yet, if I am honest, but I am pursuing it. I am looking at this thing structurally as well to see what needs to be done to make sure there are clear lines. In fairness, a lot of people did a lot of good work during the last storm. A lot of local authority officials were out in the middle of the night helping families get through it. The local authority in Carlow, for example, saved the day for a big housing estate. There are positives and negatives. The issue is that it is not pulling together. The toxicity and the impact on public health is very serious and I will come back to Deputy Boyd Barrett on the evaluation of that.

I disagree fundamentally with Deputy Murphy in that I do not think there is a huge disparity or contrast with what we said in COP. It is very important that we went to Belém. Other countries did not go at all. Ireland felt that if there was any time we should attend COP, it was last year, to make sure that momentum and critical mass were maintained internationally and globally. The emergency reserve capacity for LNG is a security issue. It is wrong of Deputy Murphy to say that it flies in the face of the climate change agenda. We simply have to have security. If anything were to happen to the gas interconnectors, our economy would not sustain a week or two. I do not know whether Deputy Murphy believes that or not, or whether he believes they are in-----

I think the answer is interconnection.

We are not going to build interconnection just like that. We have interconnection but there is a problem with it. There are threats to it. Guess who is a threat to it? Russia. I know Deputy Murphy probably does not believe that. There is a naivety in his approach to Russia. He always sees the US as the aggressor. Anyway, we will not go into that.

You just did.

There is an issue there. We have been warned about it. We have to act on that warning. We have an obligation to people, jobs, the economy and society to heed that and that is why that is going ahead.

We have made a lot of progress. The population has increased by 50%. We have grown our economy very substantially over the past two or three decades and our emissions are coming down. We have successfully proven that you can decouple economic growth from climate and population growth. Even though people are giving out that we may not reach our target, it is quite a remarkable achievement in many respects because we are one of the few countries that is growing exponentially in population relative to where we were.

On Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh's question, what is interesting is all the areas she is urging us to act on - environmental, farming, retrofitting and so on. We spend about €1.5 billion on the ACRES programme, which is good for environmental farming. Of that, 60% is from the Exchequer. Does the Deputy know what helps to fund that? It is the carbon tax, which every now and again Sinn Féin opposes.

The Taoiseach is missing the youth unemployment crisis.

In fairness to Sinn Féin members, they have the capacity to speak out of five sides of their mouths at different times on policy issues. I do not mean that personally; I am talking generally.

She should be in Fianna Fáil.

It is extraordinary. The retrofitting programme could not be done without the funds that come from the carbon tax.

Could it not be taken from anywhere else?

Some 240,000 houses have been retrofitted as a result of that programme over the past number of years. We have transformed retrofitting, we have transformed ACRES and environmental farming supports compared to what was there. Some 40% comes from the European Union and Sinn Féin has had an on-off relationship with Europe as well.

There is 14% young unemployment.

You are against it all the bloody time.

Please, address your remarks through the Chair.

I agree with Deputy Conway-Walsh on the Skillnet project. Bord na Móna is a transformative State agency. It is a great example of how to go from being a contributor to probably making one of the better contributions among State agencies to the climate change agenda and to addressing climate change. There will be further economic dividends arising out of the transformation Bord na Móna has undertaken and been part of. Bord na Móna is a good story. On public transport, the NDP allocation is 2:1 in favour of public transport. That is important.

Deputy Quaide asked about the urbanisation of floodplains. The Government supports the nature-based approach to flooding and to dealing with these issues. I accept the Deputy's point that it is not a silver bullet. It is not an either-or. The optimal position is the hard engineering projects but complemented and supplemented by nature-based measures. We need to rewet a lot more of our uplands. We need to engage with our agricultural community in that regard because what I saw in Aughrim the other day was quite frightening in terms of what came down from the mountains, taking roads with it and putting people in difficult positions in terms of life and limb. As a society, we have not fully grasped the importance of adaptation. We, in government, have more to do in that regard. I will be honest about that. I think we need to do more on the adaptation side.

Deputy Heneghan asked about the plug-in solar. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in respect of that. Anything we can do that makes it more affordable and better for people we will do. Solar is really driving now. Solar generation is really progressing very fast and is now becoming quite a significant factor in terms of renewable energy in the country and what Deputy Heneghan is suggesting is even more of that.

On Deputy Lawless's point, I supported the nature-based solutions. On the 40,000 tonnes of seaweed, I believe we should protect, in so far as we can, our resources in that regard. I think the Deputy still supports the harvesting of seaweed but more for the local community as opposed to anybody else. It is a local economic approach as opposed to a climate approach. That is fair enough. That seems to be the view. I will check where the coastal management strategy is. I have asked the Department in terms of coastal protection, and I discussed this recently with local authorities, OPW and the various Government Departments, to make sure we have a lead in that and get working on it.

I appreciate Deputy Cleere's positive commentary in relation to the roads programme for Carlow and Kilkenny, including the N25, N24, the Callan bypass, the quay in Thomastown and the south Kilkenny upgrade as well. The Deputy raised the issue of the flooding and the impact of that. I have spoken to the Minister for Transport and the officials in that Department, saying that a lot of roads have been damaged by the floods and asking them to tell the local authorities to get on with it and start repairing them. There are estimates coming in but there are roads needing immediate repairs to make them traversable and so on. We will keep pursuing that. Obviously, those projects are ones the Deputy is going to see through to the end and I appreciate that.

I will say to Deputy Tóibín that it is not the norm to be derogatory about former Ministers and people who have served in the House.

I was not derogatory.

I thought Deputy Tóibín's comments on former Minister, Noel Dempsey, were not really warranted because no matter what-----

I was not derogatory about the poor fella.

No matter what Deputy Tóibín's perspective is, I think he was a very effective Minister nationally.

I just said he promised it and it is not done.

Yes, and it is going to happen.

It is 42 years, Taoiseach, from concept to completion.

Deputy Tóibín-----

It is not 42 years. To nail it all on Noel Dempsey is a bit rich.

Even for yourselves, that is so slow.

In fairness, that project is progressing and will happen because of this Government and the previous one, in particular, and because we are in the position to allocate money to it and get it going. That is an important point as well in terms of the scale of the investment that will be required.

There is no money being ringfenced.

I would think Deputy Tóibín would pay tribute what the former Deputy and Minister, Noel Dempsey, did for road safety. He was a singularly impactful Minister in that regard. He saved a lot of lives, even though many in the House at the time disagreed with him on the measures he took.

Deputy O'Hara spoke about wind energy guidelines. I will engage with the Minister. I am hoping he will have those by the end of the year. I will come back to him. There is a lot of pressure on that unit in the Department in respect of the exemptions from planning guidelines, rural housing guidelines and onshore wind guidelines.

I do not have the specifics for Deputy Ó Murchú. I know he has raised the communal heating system.

It was biomass and gas-fired. We just need to replace them and to have flexibility and funding.

Deputy Ó Murchú-----

I get you. I hear you. Flexibility and funding is a great line.

We are 18 minutes over time on this particular group of questions. The next group is Questions Nos. 20 to 39 and we must conclude that-----

Deputy McGuinness is waiting for an answer.

One second. We will finish that group at 4.20 p.m.

I am sorry but the Taoiseach did not give Deputy McGuinness a response.

Energy prices are not just an Irish issue but are European one as well. In fact, we discussed it at the informal competitiveness council last week and it will be discussed at the March European Council and the President of the Commission will be bringing some ideas around that. We tackled that a number of years ago. The problem is the connection to the price of gas. Renewables should decrease. Renewables are the cheapest form of energy - of that, there is no question - and fossil fuels are the most expensive. Nuclear is between the two.

We now move to Questions Nos. 20 to 39.