The Minister has asked me to thank Members for an informed and thoughtful discussion. He is grateful for the broad support the Bill has received. While he expects there will be some areas where we will have to agree to disagree, he also thinks there are opportunities here for all of us to work together to make this Bill as good as it can be. Before I respond on his behalf to some of the specific issues raised in the debate, he and I would like to acknowledge in particular those contributions that highlighted specif…

I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach pursuant to Standing Orders 95(3)(a) and 181(1).

I thank the Deputy very much for raising this issue. As he will know, I care very much about it. I am particularly interested to make sure the retrofitting money is targeted towards those who need it most. I want to give the Deputy an update today on Government action on the better energy warmer homes scheme. The programme for Government and climate action plan set ambitious targets to retrofit 500,000 homes to a building energy rating of B2 and install 400,000 heat pumps in existing buildings over the next ten yea…

I am glad the Deputy welcomes this action. There are number of teams in operation and it is confusing but the SEAI can explain it. The local authorities are carrying out their own direct upgrades on their own tenants. They have €85 million for that this year which, as the Deputy said, is an enormous sum of money. Every local authority in Ireland has been allocated extra staff in order that they have the capacity to actually do the work, which was a fear. Under the better energy warmer homes scheme, which we are tal…

I thank Senator Boylan for raising this important issue and for the timely opportunity to give an update on Government action to alleviate energy poverty. The national retrofit plan, which was published as part of Climate Action Plan 2021, sets out how the Government will deliver on our retrofit targets and includes a range of matters aimed at supporting those least able to afford to retrofit. A key measure in that regard is a commitment to complete a review of the implementation of the strategy to combat energy po…

I believe the ESRI statistics are in addition to the CSO ones but I will get confirmation for the Senator on that. She has asked interesting questions about the calculation of the PSO levy, measuring the difference between those who have steady use and those who have peak use, and whether it is fair for commercial and residential customers. I cannot give the Senator a good answer orally so I will provide her with a written answer on that. She is always welcome to contact my office. However, I take her points. We es…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I can hear in his voice his passion for education in Kinsale. In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, the Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system, using data from a range of sources, including child benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional school accommodation is needed at p…

I take the Senator's point about the need for choice in order that it is not just about having one school, in addition to making sure that we have growth, not just for Kinsale town but the surrounding villages, and that the estimates for that growth are correct. The Senator will know that we have a big programme for sustainable transportation links to nearby communities so people do not have to drive their children to school. I want to be sure that his area and county are getting their fair share of that. There is …

Hear, Hear.

I thank the Deputies for their overall support for this Bill and for the comments I have heard this evening. I will start by responding to some of those comments and questions. Several Deputies mentioned the recent CCPC investigation of price-signalling in the motor insurance sector. This Bill means that in future such behaviour will be punishable by huge administrative sanctions. Deputies O'Reilly, Carthy and Ó Murchú mentioned the delay in bringing this Bill forward. In an Irish constitutional context, this Bill …

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Having regard to the unprecedented rise in electricity prices, I am pleased to have the opportunity to commend the Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Bill 2022 to the House. I will open the debate by setting the context for the actions to be taken on foot of this Bill. Although many Members will be familiar with these issues, it is important to take this opportunity to set out the complex situation we will find ourselves in with re…

I thank all Deputies for their insightful comments on this emergency legislation. It is emergency legislation. We are trying to address an immediate problem within this quarter and get money into people's accounts. We are in winter. A large number of aspects of this problem were touched on by different Deputies. The problem of energy poverty was raised by many. I thank Deputy Joan Collins for talking about that so eloquently. Deputy McNamara referred to the longer term issue of energy generation. When we are faced …

I commend the Bill to the House.

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "That" and substitute the following: "Dáil Éireann: — recognises that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is undertaking a comprehensive review of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 to strengthen and modernise the legislation; and — resolves that the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2021 be deemed to be read a second time this day nine months, to allow for the review to be completed and for a proposal for draft legislation to take account of reco…

I thank all the Members who contributed to the debate on this legislation. I also reiterate my thanks to Deputies Mairéad Farrell and Clarke for bringing forward the Bill. I have already set out in some detail my views on the legislation as currently drafted, which highlighted technical and policy issues regarding further consideration. I have, however, heard and noted the comments made by the Deputies and all the other Members who have contributed. I will avail of this opportunity to update the House on the progre…

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter, which is of great interest to me. Scenarios for net zero emissions by 2050 include a potentially significant role for the use of zero-emission gases, including green hydrogen. In planning for the longer term, we will ensure that they can meet their potential. The Climate Action Plan 2021, published in November, identifies green hydrogen as having the potential to support decarbonisation across several sectors, including: high-temperature heat for industry; tran…

In a very concrete way, three buses have been put in place and are operating. They are giving us the experience of knowing what it is like to run longer heavy-duty services. Of course, they do not give rise to pollution or emissions. When hydrogen is burned, all one gets is water. Therefore, it is a very clean fuel. That is giving us some experience. Hydrogen can be used for all these different things but it will not be commercially appropriate in every sector. In fact, we can make a hierarchy of least appropriate …

I thank the Deputy. Within the contract, there is provision for early termination on both sides, and there are details around that. At this stage, we have no reason to expect that NBI will do anything other than continue to deliver the contract in full within the seven years for the maximum amount of money that was agreed. The figure of €2.1 billion is a maximum payment rather than a fixed payment. There are milestone payments. The structure of the payments within this contract has been carefully detailed. The cont…

The Deputy will have received a detailed email showing all the progress so far just before Christmas, as did every Deputy and Senator. We will continue to update them on progress as we go along. The figure of 54,000 relates to homes that can order or pre-order. Homes that can order will get their fibre connected within ten days and those that can pre-order will get it within 90 days. That means that if all 54,000 homes ordered or pre-ordered today, they would have their connection within 90 days. That is where we a…

The 2022 targets are under negotiation at the moment, although they are not targets exactly. The specific milestones and deliveries are set in the contract at the start so they are all there already. What we are negotiating now is what the projected actual delivery will be, given the delays experienced last year.