National Economic and Social Council
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Barry Heneghan (IND), Dublin Bay North

We are losing millions every single week due to dispatch down and curtailment. At the energy committee, we are constantly pushing to future-proof our grid, long duration energy storage, LDES, and private wire legislation as something to stop this. Recently, I visited at a solar farm, which has to turn off at 12 noon due to curtailment. This needs to be brought in and fast-tracked.
Speaking of climate and energy, we have seen flooding across the country. Last week, I raised the north city arterial main, NCAM, project. After I raised the project with the Taoiseach, somehow I got a meeting with Uisce Éireann. In that meeting, I asked for meaningful consultation with residents with additional needs, a clear timeline for each phase of the works, traffic management that reflects the commuting patterns in north Dublin and access protection for residents, schools and businesses. This would not happen on the other side of the River Liffey.
The lack of consultation with people with disabilities is a fundamental failure. A constituent of mine, Mark, has additional needs and is effectively trapped because of the cancellation of the H3 service. I was just texting his mother there. This cannot happen. People in north Dublin understand these works are needed but there were no leaflet drops in areas where people will be affected. I asked Uisce Éireann for a key number of leaflets that were dropped for north Dublin residents. It is still to come back to me on what houses were dropped. These works affect the entirety of north Dublin and they need to be properly brought out to the residents so we know what is happening.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17