Renewable Energy Generation
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Marian Harkin (IND), Sligo-Leitrim

The microgeneration support scheme, MSS, provides supports to both domestic and non-domestic applicants, in the form of grants for solar PV installations, up to a maximum of €1,800 in 2026 for household installations. The domestic MSS forms part of a wider residential retrofit programme that, in line with eligibility criteria, supports energy-efficiency upgrades and the installation of renewable energy technologies in existing housing stock.
Since its pilot launch in 2018, the domestic solar PV scheme has gone from strength to strength, with over 123,000 homes being supported. Budget 2026 allocated over €67 million to this year’s scheme. So far this year, over 21,000 homes have been supported. This high level of demand indicates that the scheme is working well and that not only have citizens recognised the significant benefits of investing in solar PV, but that the solar PV industry and supply chain have adapted to the demands of our citizens. The scheme is kept under review to ensure it is operating effectively and making the best use of Exchequer funding.
The electricity and gas retail markets in Ireland operate within a European Union regulatory regime wherein electricity and gas markets are commercial, liberalised and competitive. Operating within this overall EU framework, responsibility for the regulation of the electricity and gas markets, including with regard to the clean export guarantee, CEG, is solely a matter for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, which was assigned responsibility for the regulation of the Irish electricity and gas markets following the enactment of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999. In line with long-standing policy on deregulating price setting, the CRU ended its regulation of retail prices in the electricity market in 2011, which was 15 years ago, and in the gas market in 2014, which was 12 years ago. Price-setting by electricity suppliers, including remuneration for microgeneration, is a commercial and operational matter for the companies concerned.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, published a decision on an interim enabling framework for the CEG on 1 December 2021. This decision outlined the interim arrangements for the implementation of the CEG, including eligibility criteria and remuneration methodology, in line with the requirements of Article 21(2)(d) of the recast renewable energy directive, RED II.
The CRU subsequently published a consultation paper in September 2023 with proposals to update the interim CEG arrangements. In June 2024, the CRU published its decision paper entitled Clean Export Guarantee: Enduring Arrangements to Remunerate Customers for Microgeneration Exports. That paper sets out changes to the interim arrangements that were in place for microgeneration. That decision includes improvements in the level of service for customers with microgeneration, such as: more regular payments to customers for the electricity they export to the grid; clearer information from suppliers on the details of the payments that customers receive for the electricity they export to the grid; and that suppliers will have clear information on their websites about their export tariffs.
In relation to the development of tariffs under the interim CEG arrangements, the CRU set out in its decision paper of June 2024 that it is of the view that the competitive approach, whereby suppliers set their own competitive export tariffs, has functioned well and will continue.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-22