I move: That, pursuant to Standing Order 187, it be an instruction to the Select Committee on Environment and Climate Action, in relation to the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021, that it has power to make amendments to the Bill which are outside the scope of the existing provisions of the Bill, in relation to amendments to: Part II of the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act 1960, for the purpose of prohibiting the granting of new authorisations under sections 7, 8, 9, 10 and …

The North-South interconnector is critical to improving the efficient operation of the all-island single electricity market and increasing security of electricity supply in Ireland and Northern Ireland. It will also help Ireland to move towards our 70% renewable electricity target by 2030. A resilient and well-connected energy infrastructure is vital for Ireland's economic well-being and the ability to respond to the future needs of energy consumers. The option of undergrounding the North-South interconnector has b…

We have not yet appointed the team. I expect it will be appointed shortly and that the review will take a short number of months. It is important for all concerned that we get clarity on this and it reaches a conclusion. The project has been an issue for many years now. It has been subject to extensive planning consultation, court hearings and ongoing court proceedings in Northern Ireland. Nothing can happen until that judicial process is concluded. That allows us a period to do a further review. The North-South in…

I acknowledge the reports in the Sunday newspapers to which the Deputy referred. They are correct in that we have seen, in recent months, a series of amber alerts on our system pointing out the real difficulties we have. These are due to a whole variety of different complex issues, largely gas infrastructure being out of commission. They are also due to a lack of investment in the grid and our lack of options to move and balance power across the island at local and national levels. One of the other things which is …

I thank Deputy Canney for his question. The better energy warmer homes scheme delivers a range of energy efficiency measures free of charge to low-income households who are vulnerable to energy poverty. In order to qualify for support, applicants must own and live in their home, which must have been built and occupied before 2006, and must be in receipt of certain social welfare payments. To date, over 143,000 homes have received free upgrades under the scheme. In 2020 the average value of the energy efficiency mea…

I will commit to looking at that. It is key that we are looking to get to every single house in the country. That is what we have to do to meet this climate change challenge. Every place matters. We have to go to every community in a systematic way. It will take three decades, with 500,000 houses a decade and 50,000 houses a year reached. That is what we need to do. That is why at the launch of the national economic recovery plan today the message given to people was that we need more than anything else young peopl…

What the Deputy says about the supply chain is true. Across a range of different sectors what we are seeing as a result of the pandemic is disruption to global supply chains. It is very real and is occurring in the construction sector as well as other sectors. It is adding to inflationary pressures, which is a real difficulty. We have to hope and expect that, as the economy returns to some sort of normal, the vaccines are rolled out and people are able to get the supply lines working better again, that short-run co…

I thank Deputy Bruton. With the 2030 Climate Target Plan and EU climate law, the EU will raise its ambition on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to at least 55% below 1990 levels by 2030. This is a substantial increase compared to the existing 40% emissions reduction cut. The Commission is preparing to present by July 2021 an overhaul of all relevant climate legislation as part of a what is called a Fit for 55 Package to align with the newly proposed target. Ireland fully supports the enhanced ambition at EU level.…

Much of what happens here will depend on the outcome of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, negotiations, which are not concluded yet. I will be honest in saying that I will be very supportive of new income streams that we can create to pay for nature-based or environmental services that our farming community might deliver. It is critical that the CAP negotiations help in delivering on that. The Deputy will be aware that many of the regulations around land use issues are set at an international, UN level. The Euro…

Ireland’s increased climate and energy ambition is reflected by the Government target to achieve 5 GW of installed offshore wind generation by 2030. There is a further commitment in the programme for Government to develop a longer-term plan to utilise the potential 30 GW of offshore floating wind power in our Atlantic waters. The 5 GW target will be primarily met through development of offshore renewable energy in Ireland’s eastern and southern coastal regions. This reflects the suitability of water depths in these…

I agree with the Deputy and even since the programme for Government was written, things are changing here, which may actually see some of the targets being exceeded, if we get our policy approach right, and we may get some of the timelines reached earlier. As an example of that, I cite the announcement by ESB and Equinor, two companies with real scale, experience and a history of delivery, and that by 2028 we would start seeing the deployment of this offshore floating capability on the west coast. Indeed, as the De…

It is interesting that the Deputy mentioned Limerick. I was reading The Irish Times a couple of weeks ago, and while I cannot recall which supplement it was, it was on this subject. I turned the page and there was a full-page advert, I presume from Limerick County Council, stating that Limerick was going to go green and this was the future for the county. I must admit I was nodding. I think it is the future for the city and the county. If we think about it strategically and long term, we have world-class manufactur…

Deputy Stanton is correct, in that it is a real opportunity for Cork as well as Limerick. They have similar characteristics There is a world-class deepwater harbour in Cork. There is a lot of energy infrastructure. It is the same in Shannon with the Moneypoint grid. In Cork, there is the plant in Aghada, all the energy assets and the pharmaceutical industries, so it has the same combination. It is close to offshore wind energy that can be brought ashore. It will only work if we get the planning right, particularly …

Many of the jobs will come. Take the likes of Ballycotton or other areas along the west Cork or east Cork coast, for example. There are many small ship fishing vessel capabilities that would be perfectly involved in servicing and maintenance. The numbers are not huge but, at the same time, they would be significant for coastal communities. I keep coming back to the point about the real potential in answer to questions from various Deputies. Increasingly, it seems what we see in this new energy system is that indust…

That threat is something that can trip us up. We must do everything to avoid that, which will involve a series of different measures. We will have short-term, interim, open cycle gas and reactive power to keep balancing our system. Part of the problem is we have lost two large gas plants, which are down due to prolonged repairs. That has put us into difficulty. I will be honest and say it is one of the highest risk and most important issues we must address over the next year, but I am confident we will be able to d…

The housing crisis is at the top of the Government's agenda. We now have to apply the same cross-governmental approach we applied to Covid to housing because it is the real crisis of our time, particularly for young people. The Government is committed to doing everything we can to meet this crisis. It is a multifaceted problem. There is not one simple cure-all solution that will get us out of this. We will require a range of different initiatives. It will be in the delivery of social housing, the delivery of accomm…

In the Poolbeg development, I have no sense that those affordable housing units will not become available. I am not happy with the mechanism used in the context of the development of that project to date. I would have much preferred it if we had got direct State build and access to the land but that is not the legacy that we inherited. We will manage matters, however, and make sure that we provide social and affordable housing units on that site and others. This evening, our councillors will be working - Sinn Féin …

We have to be constantly vigilant and concerned about what is happening with Covid-19, including local incidence rates. Deputy Kelly cited Limerick as one example. We have to continue to monitor the situation. The reality is that the figures over the past two months have been relatively stable. We would like to see them lower but by any international comparison, we have one of the lowest levels of transmission. There is a whole variety of variants. The B1617 variant is of particular concern. As of 24 May, there wer…

I will happily put that to NIAC as the Deputy suggests. One cause of comfort, although maybe it is the wrong word, is to look at what is actually happening. My understanding on what has been reported in Limerick is that there has been a spike locally. The numbers are not huge and, while we still have to keep an eye on every such spike, it has not been in that older age category in Limerick. It has been in the younger age category, so we have to look and see. Regarding the UK and potential importation, the advice re…

The Deputy is right to frame this question in the context of the vote three years ago to repeal the eighth amendment. The people are sovereign in our constitutional Republic and what we have to do now, as set out in the legislation following that vote, is to conduct a three-year review of how the new services are working, to heed what the World Health Organization and the National Women's Council of Ireland are saying about gaps in the service that may become apparent, and to adjust accordingly. Included within tha…