The home energy upgrade loan scheme, HEULS, was launched in April 2024. It is intended to play a crucial role in helping homeowners invest in their energy upgrades to make their homes warmer, healthier and more comfortable with lower emissions and lower bills. It was developed by my Department in conjunction with the Department of Finance, Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, SBCI, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, and European Investment Bank. The scheme is available nationwide and homeowners can borrow from €5,000 to €75,000 on an unsecured basis for a term of up to ten years at significantly lower interest rates than those currently on the market. Rates start from as low as 2.99% depending on the finance provider. PTSB was the first lender to join in April 2024. AIB and Bank of Ireland joined in June 2024. In 2025, the group of participating lenders has been expanded to include Avant Money in partnership with An Post and seven credit unions from the Irish League of Credit Unions. By the end of 2024, 245 loans to a value of €11.9 million were drawn down, and by the end of June 2025 this had risen to 580 loans to a value of €28.5 million. In line with the programme for Government, in addition to expanding the number of lenders under the scheme, a key focus of the Department across 2025 has been the continued promotion of the scheme to drive uptake. This also includes the progression of a comprehensive marketing and communications campaign to scale up activity in the home energy upgrade loan scheme. While I am aware, and it can be seen from the numbers, that it probably did not drive on as quickly as people expected, now that there are the array of lenders and with that campaign being organised I expect there to be a significant uptake. The 3% interest rate in the current market is a very good rate and one we all have a duty insofar as we can to try to promote within our own spheres of influence.
Sentiment score: 0.32
I thank the Deputy for pointing that out. That has been a feature. As we go to the air to water systems the costs are significant but the long-term rewards are real. When homes are brought up to a higher energy rating and appropriately insulated, there is a significant financial reward over time. When that is coupled with the use of solar panels, that reduces consumption in the first instance, thereby reducing bills. At the end of the day, society is changing a lot in being mindful of our CO2 emissions but until it is made financially feasible and viable people will not be minded to take the next step, which is to invest their own money in protecting the environment more generally. People are willing and better educated about the benefits for the wider aspect of society but I fully agree with the Deputy that we have to make this financially viable and demonstrate there is a financial return through reduced costs over time. Of course, upgrading somebody's home is improving an asset and preserving and protecting it into the future. I thank the Deputy for his interest.
Sentiment score: 0.43
A scheme has been deployed for those most under threat of energy poverty where the entirety of the cost is recovered. That is clearly for those in low income homes, whether they be elderly or significantly dependent on social supports. The Deputy should not hold me to this but I think 25,000 homes have been upgraded in that particular sphere. That is an area that can be looked at. This will require further review but any investment in a home to reduce CO2 output, rather than going for the full retrofit, would be beneficial and helpful to the environment so it may be possible to look at some staging measures. I accept there are people for whom a ten-year cycle would be significant and would probably preclude them in terms of their own thinking. I am happy to take those issues on board and see what we can do in the future to devise a diverse range of schemes.
Sentiment score: 0.24
I thank Deputy McCarthy and note his interest in this important issue. The south coast designated maritime area plan, DMAP, was adopted by the Oireachtas in 2024 and designates four development areas for fixed-bottom offshore wind development. An auction process is due to commence on 22 September for the first of these areas, the so-called Tonn Nua site, with capacity for a 900 MW offshore wind farm. We anticipate that a winner will be announced for this site on 9 December. The Tonn Nua project is expected to be operational by 2034 subject to planning consent, which is the next wave of it. Specifically then on the Deputy's area of concern, arrangements are being made to bring the remaining three south coast DMAP sites to market, ensuring a consistent pipeline of offshore developments will take place over the coming years. A further pipeline of development sites within the national DMAP will follow from 2028 onwards. However, the precise approach to bringing the remaining three south coast DMAP sites to auction may depend on a range of factors, including grid connection options, availability of engineering and environmental data, and market conditions. These matters are being examined in consultation with the offshore wind industry with a view to bringing the sites to auction from 2026 onwards. Separately, just last week, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and I announced the publication of the national DMAP proposal and accompanying public participation statement. That national DMAP will ultimately designate renewable energy sites around Ireland’s coast that are suitable for offshore wind development, including fixed, floating and floating demonstration locations. The proposal set out information on the scope of the overall plan, timeframes and the required steps in the development of the DMAP over the next two years, as well as the Government’s commitment to extensive and inclusive consultation with the public and stakeholders throughout the process.
Sentiment score: 0.23
I know the Deputy's interest and concern in this from conversations and consultations that I, other Ministers and the Department have had with those who will seek to build out these facilities. The next auction, as I said, will be later this year. We are hopeful there will be a number of bidders. The important thing then for those who do not win is that they see a further opportunity. One will obviously win. There may be three, four or whatever number of others. It is important from our perspective that we can show that there is a pipeline of opportunities for the others to follow quickly. We are very conscious of that. Some work has to be done between the Department and EirGrid to develop options for further connecting the grid to lead on to those three sites within the overall DMAP. It is about giving certainty, first of all, that the Government is absolutely committed to offshore renewables and then showing that there is a pipeline, not just with those additional three but also around our coastline, as we progress towards 2040, by which point we have commitments to generate up to 20 GW of electricity off our shoreline. We are keenly aware of the necessity to do exactly as the Deputy has identified and I thank him for his interest in that area.
Sentiment score: 0.36
I do not have that information available to me today but I am happy to come back to the Deputy directly with it.
Sentiment score: 0.72
Wind generation is supported mainly through the legacy renewable energy feed-in tariff, REFIT, schemes and the renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, and funded also through public service obligations, PSO. These supports are a critical enabler of the investment needed to underpin a renewables-led energy system. Over the 2025-26 PSO year, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities reports that over 3.3 GW of wind capacity was supported by the PSO. Of this, more than 2.9 GW was supported under the REFIT and over 0.4 GW under the RESS, with over 1 GW of solar also supported under the RESS. In addition to that capacity, some wind farms operate without PSO support, selling directly into the market or under private power-purchase agreements. Taking all of them into account, the total installed wind generation capacity has reached over 5 GW. Industry sources indicate that approximately 2.5 GW of onshore wind capacity has secured planning permission but is not yet built and that another approximate 1.5 GW of projects are seeking planning permission or are the subject of judicial review. The Government remains committed to the development of 5 GW of offshore wind capacity with projects in construction by 2030 and energised as soon as feasible thereafter. Projects from the ORESS-1, accounting for 3 GW, are progressing through the planning process within An Comisiún Pleanála. Separately, the 900 MW Tonn Nua site within the south coast DMAP will go to auction this autumn. Delivering on this capacity, combined with our 5 GW of existing installed wind capacity, will bring us closer to achieving our national ambition of 9 GW of onshore wind and 5 GW of offshore wind in the very near future.
Sentiment score: 0.26
The Deputy will be aware that with the passage of the national marine planning legislation back in 2021, where we introduced the approach through the designated marine area plans, the approach to identifying those sites and the approach to engaging with stakeholders in a very open and transparent way, it has worked well. Our first DMAP was launched in this House in October of last year and was not judicially reviewed, which to me was a clear indication that the process and the legislative basis on which it was founded is working. It is about that kind of engagement and planning ahead. The approach we had taken up to this was about leaving it up to developers to identify sites. They were known as the phase 1 projects, such as the two the Deputy referred to. The Government moved from that to a plan-led approach whereby the State will identify the areas that are suitable and will work with communities and stakeholders to try to ensure that there is not that level of objection when it goes to the planning process. This is what we are doing now. We announced last Friday a full national DMAP, to follow on from the one in existence, to ensure a plan-led approach and a consultative approach with stakeholders, whether they be fishermen, other sea users or the communities where the infrastructure will have to be built in the first instance to serve the sites or where a grid will have to be built to bring it ashore. While we were slow getting started, we have an appropriate system in place now that I feel is certainly working but the important thing is to get it moving as quickly as possible.
Sentiment score: 0.29
The Deputy has raised an important point on the environmental aspect, and the construction of certain structures can have that ability to pull together those microsystems. Part of my role in the Department is about ensuring that we meet our commitments - Deputy Whitmore will be familiar with this - in regard to the marine protected areas, an important feature and commitment that we have given to designate 30% of our seas by 2030. In that context, under the same legislation, we hope to move relatively quickly on that. It will not preclude certain development on certain sites that are to be protected from a marine environmental protection perspective, and can give rise to assisting the growth and development of certain biodiversity that was under threat or has already been lost in a significant way. We are trying to advance the two pieces together, both identifying the areas suitable for development for the generation of electricity and protecting our marine environment in line with our international commitments.
Sentiment score: 0.32
We have skipped ahead. I will have to get that for the Deputy. I do not seem to have that.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I will have to get that. Does the Leas-Cheann Comhairle want to go on to the next one and I will come back to that?
Sentiment score: 0.04
There seems to be an issue with my questions here.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I may be required to do that. The Deputy has raised the important issue of-----
Sentiment score: 0.10
Yes. Nuclear fission-powered electricity generation plants are prohibited in Ireland. The use of nuclear fission for the generation of electricity in Ireland is statutorily prohibited under section 18(6) of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999. It is also of note that no action on nuclear power was included as part of the programme for Government in 2025, Securing Ireland's Future. The programme for Government does not, however, set out the commitment of this Government to achieving 80% of Ireland's electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030. Our climate action plans recognise that enabling such a transformation of our energy systems will also require a range of supporting measures. This will involve the development of a balanced portfolio of technologies, including storage, to complement other measures such as demand-side response, network development and interconnection to ensure a safe and secure electricity system with increased levels of renewables.
Sentiment score: 0.32
I thank both Deputies. I know of their personal interest because both of them, on many occasions, have spoken to me about the necessity to look at that. The Government has taken a decision, and it is a decision that is probably based on historical context, going back to the early seventies when there were proposals at Carnsore to build a nuclear facility and there was a very significant public outcry. I do not think it has ever been revisited since. I take the Deputy's point regarding the newer technologies and small-scale nuclear reactors, which are still somewhat commercially available but there are only a couple of examples, as I understand it, around the world where they are deployed. Other countries have a march on it and are ahead of us on that, and they have built a wealth of experience and knowledge in that area. It is a bit like recognising what you are good at, and we have become good at renewables. We have become good at wind, we are getting really good at solar and we are now starting to embrace, on a wave of investment, offshore. That is where we should focus our attention.
Sentiment score: 0.28
If you look at the capacity to generate so much electricity, particularly but not exclusively off our west coast, it far outweighs the issues around nuclear. I am also conscious-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
-----of how difficult it is, and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will appreciate this-----
Sentiment score: 0.05
-----to get permission for a wind turbine. Failing to get permission for a wind turbine and introducing a small-scale nuclear reactor-----
Sentiment score: -0.26
-----might not be that much easier.
Sentiment score: 0.42
I have outlined the Government position but that is not to suggest that others who have an interest or some ideas on this should not interrogate the information and the ideas and look into the future as to what is available elsewhere. Of course, I am sure there are educational facilities and research projects that could be engaged by those who are like-minded. From the Government's perspective it is now about being really focused on what we need to do to deliver and not becoming distracted from that. Of course, debates will exist elsewhere. On a personal level, I am happy to look at and review any data that emerges there. I have the answer to the question. I was thrown a bit by Deputy Byrne appearing when the question said-----
Sentiment score: 0.34
As the Deputy said, Cabinet approved the private wires policy on 15 July, details of which have been published on the Government website. The policy allows for private wires to be developed in four scenarios: to permit private wires linking a single generation asset to a demand site; to facilitate hybrid connections; where possible to facilitate EV charging; and to allow a customer that self-supplies to provide electricity to a separate customer in a contiguous premises. Work on drafting the necessary legislation to support the policy is now ongoing within our Department and the intention is to bring this legislation to Cabinet for approval in the near term. As I said, the Department is working with the Office of the Attorney General to progress legislative reform to implement the recently published private wires policy. I expect that the general scheme of the private wires Bill will be submitted for Cabinet approval by quarter 4 of this year. I will keep the House updated on that matter.
Sentiment score: 0.41
Following Cabinet approval the Department will work closely with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to commence drafting on the Bill in the new year before seeking Oireachtas approval. The legislation will be drafted to reflect the guiding principles of the policy statement and clarify the necessary regulations to build private wires in the policies for specified use cases. Plenty of examples have been brought to my attention, some of which are in my own constituency, where there are significant constraints on the capacity of the grid to meet the growing demand from industry, data centres and housing. There is an abundance of sites that are able to bring that electricity to the grid. It will be a useful tool in working our way around the constraints that are currently preventing significant development taking place. It is a priority of the Government. It was identified in the programme for Government as something that needs to be addressed and one on which no time will be lost. I thank the Deputy for his interest.
Sentiment score: 0.21
I am very conscious of that. When there are entities and corporations that are prepared to invest their own capital in such schemes, it is an appropriate way to progress and grow our economy. We see the same in housing. It is about bringing in private capital to support infrastructure. It allows us to move more quickly and ensures that the State is not left funding all of it. For that reason, the Government is in full agreement with the Deputy that this important legislation needs to progress without delay.
Sentiment score: 0.30