Is the Government listening to the Climate Change Advisory Council, Social Justice Ireland and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul?

I did. In fact I have it here in front of me.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue. Much has been said on waste management services, bin collections and the services that are provided. There are very significant issues with them, including complications, contradictions, inefficiencies, and side-by-side collection. A huge number of people do not have a bin service. We have a significant challenge and problem with illegal dumping. It falls on councils to pick up the tab for that. In the meantime, prices are increasing for ordinary workers…

On 30 April this year, the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, was appeared before the Oireachtas committee. In response to questions about this, he said that people will have a lower volume and lower weight in their bins, that the majority of waste collectors now charge by weight or volume, rather than a fixed fee, and that the cost of waste removal should come down. This reflects what most people would understand and would have expected in relation to this. At the same time though, the Minister of State must have be…

Yes, of course.

It is the first time since the Minister, Deputy Ryan, announced that he will be stepping down as leader of the Green Party and will not be contesting the next general election that I have had an opportunity in the Chamber to wish him well. We have had lots of engagement both here and in the committee and it has always been constructive and policy focused. I thank him for that and wish him well. My first question relates to the energy poverty steering group. How many times has it met? What actions have stemmed from …

One of the issues of contention for some time in this area is definitions. A clear definition gives us the opportunity to measure. There are different definitions. Does the Minister have an update on the work towards agreeing a definition on energy poverty? Will the Government adopt the EU definition, for example, or is the Minister considering a focus on outcome and experience of going without sufficient energy, as recommended by a number of stakeholders, including the Society of St. Vincent de Paul?

One of the things we need to do, which would be enabled by clarity on definitions, is better mapping and managing of data, for example, on income, CSO data, population data and also BER data from the SEAI. That would allow us to have clear targets for energy poverty reduction built into our national retrofitting plan. I have raised this issue with the Minister before and he pointed towards what is almost an overlap with the warmer homes scheme. As a result of the eligibility criteria, there is a significant overlap…

I ask the Minister for an update on the development of offshore wind, the status of the guidelines for the development of offshore wind, when the second offshore wind auction will take place and the progress of phase 1 projects to date.

What is the timeline for the south coast DMAP to be approved? I hope it is imminent. There is a concern we are not moving quickly enough. I acknowledge it is a considerable body of work to prepare DMAPs and that the south coast one is the first one. However, there is a concern we are not moving quickly enough on the west coast and elsewhere. Is consideration being given to that? Is the Minister aware of that concern? Much of it relates to Ireland's role in sending a signal to the world that we are serious about off…

An issue that comes up consistently is ports infrastructure. Deputy Kenny and others have raised this consistently. It is almost a matter of chicken and egg. The ports need a commitment from developers before they can secure funding; the developers cannot commit when they do not know the infrastructure will be in place. The clock is ticking on these projects, particularly the phase 1 projects and it is phase 1 developers I am talking about. There is an indication ports are in for European funding but they have been…

While there is some confusion on the terminology here, the Minister will understand the question. I am asking the Minister to provide an update on the community-led projects that were successful in auction 1 and auction 2; the number of these projects that remain in the process; if he is aware of concerns that considerable barriers remain for community groups in the recently launched phase 2; and if he will make a statement on the matter. I know there is a new SRESS process as well.

How many megawatts of community-owned renewable energy are currently energised and how many more megawatts will be needed in order meet the 2030 target? It seems clear that there is development in this space from a policy perspective, moving from the RESS and recognising some of the barriers. It remains to be seen whether the new SRESS process will address that. From a community perspective, when we look at the number of sustainable energy communities we have, it is clear that in most other European countries, the …

I encourage the Minister to look at some innovative models across Europe that have sought to take a different approach to the delivery of the same outcome. The outcome should be the literal ownership and a sense of ownership of the energy transition in order to allow people to share in the opportunity and the benefits offered by the transition to renewable energy. There are so many positives associated with that, not least that it empowers communities. For example, Ripple Energy in Britain takes ownership of a perc…

There is now an indication the CRU will act on section 45 of the 1999 electricity Act to move for a CPO of lands and will outline the process in that regard in the coming weeks. That is a recipe for conflict, in my opinion. If the Minister wants to see this project delivered he needs to go to plan B at this stage. The project will not be delivered in the way that EirGrid or the Minister currently see it.

We have the comprehensive accommodation strategy for international protection and part of that is to provide State-provided accommodation for asylum seekers. There are a number of earmarked sites, including Thornton Hall. It is almost a month ago today that we had a formal briefing on Thornton Hall's identification for State accommodation for asylum seekers but we have not had an update since. At that stage, we were told the centre would be opened at the end of June. That is obviously not the case and there have be…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that Ireland has some of the most expensive electricity prices in the European Union (EU), two-thirds higher than the average, with the typical Irish household paying nearly €700 more per year; regrets that: — the Government refused to apply a stronger, more effective windfall tax which tackled profits when they were at their peak post the Russian invasion of Ukraine; — decades of successive Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green led Governments have failed to invest in renewable ene…

I thank Deputies for their contributions over the course of the debate. I am disappointed the Government has tabled a countermotion. I do not accept its rationale or argument for doing so. We have to look at the evidence, which is that large numbers of people are in arrears with their electricity bills, with 10% of domestic and commercial electricity customers and 25% of domestic and commercial gas customers in arrears. Energy poverty is at an all-time high. We have imperfect measures for all of these things. If we…

This is a significant issue in my county, Meath, particularly for people travelling from north Meath into Dublin, for example. Some people are lucky enough to be able to live at home but they are denied the independence of living away from home during their college years. The issue above all else, though there are others, such as transport connections, is the issue of affordability. What is the Minister doing to address the issue of the lack of affordability of student accommodation? An important feature of this is…

It is just a statement of fact that there is nowhere near the necessary accommodation to meet demand. The accommodation that is available is not in any way affordable to people. The Minister talked about his experience of being in digs in the city of Cork. In my college experience in the city of Dublin 25 years ago, it was digs, private rented and shared accommodation, all on a maintenance grant. There is not a snowball's chance in hell that you could afford that in 2024. On the issue of affordability, to play arou…