Energy Infrastructure
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-09
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Frankie Feighan (FG), Sligo-Leitrim

I thank the Deputy for raising very valid and informed concerns. The Deputy talks about the absence of guidelines. The Government remains committed to the production of up to 5.7 TWh of biomethane, which is a little over 10% of our current natural gas, and the development of Ireland's anaerobic digestion of biomethane on an industrial scale. This will serve to diversify our sources of gas, improve our energy security and deliver the carbonisation options for Ireland to meet its 2030 climate and energy targets.
Biomethane production can bring significant benefits to the communities and local environment in which the plants are located, including creating jobs and new revenue streams for farmers and other rural businesses. As was said, these are significant infrastructure and therefore are, correctly, required to undergo full planning and permitting processes to ensure consideration of a range of factors including location, the visual impact, land zoning plans, and ecology. A key priority is the development of guidelines to support our local authorities. When finalised, these will be made available on the biomethane information hub on gov.ie.
Finally, it is my colleague the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage who has responsibility for the overall development of national planning policy and legislation. AD and other integrated assets are required to undergo a full planning process to ensure proper consideration of a range of factors including location, visual impact, land zoning plans and ecology. Guidelines and requirements for these are currently set out through several Acts, policy documents, spatial strategies, and development plans. As the Deputy will be aware, projects above a certain threshold are also required to complete an environmental impact assessment.
Again, I thank the Deputy for raising his concerns. I will bring them to the Minister as soon as possible.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:26+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-09