Absolutely. District heating is going to play an extremely important role in the decarbonisation of the heating sector. There are certain areas, especially where waste heat is available, where this approach will be the preferred solution compared with retrofitting or insulating buildings. It can have real advantages and offer protection for our country. There are slight variations and different forms of these systems. Local heating systems, such as the two in question here, and especially where a specific developme…

We need to switch away from every possible use of gas. It will, though, have an interim role to play in a variety of areas. Regarding heating in buildings, and especially in new buildings, I agree with Deputy Leddin about the need to switch away from using gas connections as the future of heating and towards a range of other options, such as electric, biomass and other alternative sources. Codema, Dublin's energy agency, has done some good work in this area. My colleague, Ciarán Cuffe MEP, shared an interesting gra…

The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 commits Ireland to a legally-binding target of a climate neutral economy no later than 2050 and a reduction in emissions of 51% by 2030, compared with 2018 levels. Following the process set out in the Act, the carbon budget programme proposed by the Climate Change Advisory Council, CCAC, was approved by the Government on 21 February 2022, and subsequently adopted by the Oireachtas on 6 April 2022. This carbon budget programme comprises three success…

Yes, sorry, it was LNG. The Government's policy statement on the importing of fracked gas was approved by the Government and published in May 2021. The policy statement provides that, pending the outcome of a review of the security of energy supply of Ireland's electricity and natural gas systems currently being carried out by my Department, it would not be appropriate for the development of any LNG terminals in Ireland to be permitted or proceeded with. This review is to be completed by later this year.

I heard the Tánaiste state in this House not too long ago, and I agree with him, that the future in regard to Shannon is in hydrogen. Let us consider Cork Harbour and the Shannon Estuary, where much of our heavy industry is located. It is where much of our electricity generation, oil refineries and pharmaceuticals are based, all of which will switch to hydrogen. It is also the location in which we will bring ashore the off-shore wind. That, through electrolysis converted to hydrogen, gives us the perfect, secure, i…

In the provision of energy, we must get three things right. We must get the price right because we have to protect our householders. We must get the environment right and stop the planet from burning due to the local pollution that comes with a lot of fossil fuel use. We also must secure energy supply. I believe the development of hydrogen back-up power, storage and usage in power generation and in industries makes energy sense on all three criteria. To answer Deputy Stanton, our circumstances are different from ot…

The Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Act 2022 established a scheme for the making of a once-off electricity costs emergency benefit payment to each domestic electricity account in 2022 having regard to the exceptional rise in energy prices. The credit of €176.22, excluding VAT, which suppliers began applying in April, will be applied to remaining domestic electricity accounts through May and June, and includes prepay meters. The scheme is one important part of the measures the Go…

The RTB is the best option, and the scheme was designed as such from the very start. In those cases, it is the local representatives working through the council who should make sure that they have it. There is a basic principle that every householder in the country, regardless of their tenancy arrangements, is due to get the credit. If there is a council, such as Wexford County Council, denying that right or Government intention, it is then a matter for the local representatives to perhaps bring the matter to the c…

The main reason coal use increased is because the price of gas went up so high that coal came in earlier on the merit order. We are also in a very tight situation in terms of power generation, not only because of data centres but also as a result of a variety of other issues. I attended and addressed at the EPA conference yesterday. I said that, critically, the response is in the establishment of six acceleration teams. One team would work on each of the following: the development of offshore wind; the development …

No one is saying that. The Deputy should recognise that no new data centres have been approved since September 2020. I have been very clear. EirGrid and the CRU have both recognised that in terms of the development of that industry. Digital industries here employ more than 140,000 people and we need to hold on to those jobs. The industry recognises that, as EirGrid, CRU and I, as Minister, have clearly stated, it has to live within the climate limits. It is true that the scale of the change we need to make is very …

The Climate Action Plan 2021 sets out where we are going. The plan will be revised and assessed this autumn. We learn by doing. This will make for a better country. Waving fingers at or blaming people is no good. Doing this as a device of politics whereby someone is identified as being to blame or having responsibility does not work. This country is well placed to make the leap. One of the reasons for this is that in recent years we have worked in a collaborative and collective way and recognised that where there a…

The key measure for the development of offshore wind will be the acceleration task force that I mentioned in reply to the previous question. We have four or five key tasks to do in offshore renewables. We have to give the consent now for the first phase of the offshore wind projects, get them through planning - some of them will get through and others will not - and get them under contract in order to start construction. The first phase will be mainly on the east coast. When we start phase 2, we will need to get th…

My understanding is that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage recently announced the appointment of Captain Robert McCabe as chairperson of the seafood offshore renewable energy working group. This group will dovetail with this acceleration task force so, yes, it is starting its work. The scale and speed required are beyond compare. In the context of these deployment ports, Cork has a real potential advantage because it has deepwater berths where one needs at least a 10 m quayside and the quay n…

This phase will not include offshore floating wind projects, but phase 2 and phase 3 certainly will. As we go into the western waters, where it becomes deep very suddenly, these facilities will have to be floating in order for them to work. Close to shore, there is not as much depth. There is real development-----

The consents in the phase 2 process must be agreed in the next two and a half to three years. That is the timeline so that we meet our 5 GW target by the end of the decade. The third phase, or the enduring regime, is where this really opens up. Returning to what we were discussing earlier, with many of these projects, the potential deployment of offshore renewables for hydrogen so storage, and so on, could be part of that regime. It is not just what goes out, but how we bring it ashore, store it and use it. That is…

We launched a microgeneration support scheme in December. The scheme is targeting support for 380 MW of installed microgeneration capacity, to contribute to the target of up to 2.5 GW of solar renewables. The microgeneration support scheme domestic solar photovoltaic grant is available from the SEAI, with grant levels up to a maximum of €2,400 available. On 15 February, I signed the regulations that create an obligation on suppliers to offer the clean export guarantee tariff to new and existing micro and small-scal…

I have been meeting the aviation industry throughout, particularly in the Covid period. I met the board of the Dublin Airport Authority several months ago as well as the airlines and I meet all three airports regularly. It has been a difficult time. It was very difficult managing through Covid but we have absolutely been focused on what is in the interest of the Irish public and the travelling public to make sure they are served. They were not served last weekend. Everyone accepts that. It was totally unacceptable.…

In March, we realised there was a problem and we engaged directly with the airport, which also recognised there was a problem. There was a particular problem coming into the Easter period. We engaged with the company, the European Commission and others to try to make sure that the security arrangements in the airport would allow us to get those passengers through. We got passengers through. It was not an ideal situation. No one wants to queue for an hour, let alone any longer, but people did not miss their flights.…

I do not know how many dozen times I have met it over the past two or three years.

The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, meets it on a daily basis with my adviser and I come in on a regular basis to check and make sure what we are doing. I engaged with the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and others to make sure that the whole of Government was involved. We were active. We were engaged.