I thank the Deputy for the question and welcome the opportunity to provide an update on the Government's progress on delivering on our biomethane ambitions. The Government has committed to supporting the production of up to 5.7 TW of indigenous produced biomethane by 2030, a key pillar of our national and EU climate and energy targets. A critical first step on this journey was the publication of the national biomethane strategy, which outlines 25 strategic actions to drive growth across the sector. To oversee this work, the biomethane implementation group, chaired by my Department, was established in 2024. It has met four times to date, bringing together key Government Departments, agencies and sectoral stakeholders. The group will meet again in September of this year and is currently finalising a progress report that will be published shortly on www.gov.ie. This report will provide updates on the key deliverables including the biomethane sustainability charter and the development of the biomethane information hub and communications strategy. The charter is a priority action under the strategy. It has now been finalised following extensive consultation and is being prepared for publication. The charter will set out best practice guidelines to ensure that anaerobic digestion is developed in a more environmentally sustainable manner, protecting waste, soil, biodiversity, and ensuring that health and safety standards are maintained. This work is part of a broader policy framework that includes forthcoming renewable heat obligations and the heat networks Bill, both of which are progressing through Government and will provide the regulatory certainty and investment signals needed to scale up renewable heat and district heating infrastructure. In short, we are moving from strategy to action. The biomethane implementation group is central to ensuring that we can translate a coordinated policy into accountable and transparent action.

Sentiment score: 0.28

I am conscious that the Deputy is raising a question around the streamlining of the planning process. Certainly, I fully recognise the need for correct planning guidelines. Anaerobic digesters themselves are significant infrastructure projects so we need to ensure that these developments are sustainable, sensitive to local communities and are aligned with land use and ecology considerations. We want to improve clarity and consistency on this matter and included in the biomethane strategy is a commitment to developing an online information hub and to support public understanding and planning authority awareness of anaerobic digestion technology. Planning policy is in the remit of my colleague, the Minister of State Deputy Cummins. We are working closely to align our Departments' commitments and the national planning policy that can evolve the timely and responsible development of these anaerobic digestion facilities.

Sentiment score: 0.36

The biomethane sustainability charter is the priority deliverable. It will chart the Government's commitment around many of the actions to which the Deputy has referred here in relation to ensuring that biomethane production in Ireland is environmentally sustainable. The charter will undergo extensive consultation with key stakeholders and will inform the guidance of the biomethane implementation group. We want to have the best practice guidelines for the sector, covering water quality, land use and ensuring biodiversity protection and health and safety standards. The charter is all about ensuring we can scale biomethane production to ensure we meet our climate commitments, that it is done in a more environmentally sustainable manner and that we strike the balance between community concerns and our ambition to meet climate targets.

Sentiment score: 0.40

In 2022, the most recent year for which EPA statistics are available, Ireland recycled 32% of plastic packaging waste. This exceeds the current target of 22.5% but meeting the stricter targets of 50% and 55% for 2025 and 2026, respectively, will be more challenging. These figures are in respect of all plastics, including PET. The EU list of plastic waste codes does not isolate individual polymers. Given the volume and grade of materials collected through our waste collection system, plastics are mostly recycled abroad for reasons of economic viability. However, measures are under way that will help to boost recycling rates for plastics, including PET, and make recycling on the island a more attractive proposition for investors. These measures include the national deposit return scheme, as the Deputy mentioned. For the first time, a separate high-quality stream of PET is now available for recycling. Together with the requirement under the single-use plastics directive for incorporating 25% of recycled plastic in PET beverage bottles from 2025, rising to 30% from 2030, the case for investing in recycling here has never been stronger. In keeping with the polluter pays principle, extended producer responsibility schemes have a key role in meeting national collection and recycling targets and supporting investment to ensure as much as possible can be recovered and recycled domestically. Repak, the extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging, and Re-turn, which operates the deposit return scheme, are both working with investors to maximise the recycling of all types of plastic packaging here in Ireland.

Sentiment score: 0.08

We are absolutely committed on this side of the House to moving to recycle more plastic in Ireland. We need to be honest about the current reality that the waste management sector, including plastic recycling, operates in a global market and that a large part of the plastic recycling collected, including under the deposit return scheme, is traded internationally, based on volume and quality and on economic viability. That is why we introduced the enhanced producer responsibility schemes such as Re-turn and Repak. In fact, Repak provides subsidies of €100 per tonne for plastic reprocessed in Ireland. We certainly recognise that we need to do more. The Government is very much focused on solutions. We are looking to incentivise the building of the infrastructure and building the partnerships needed to ensure Ireland leads the way in regard to waste management, especially for PET and plastic bottles.

Sentiment score: 0.19

I would challenge the figures the Deputy outlined. In 2024 alone, Re-turn collected up to 12,000 tonnes of PET plastic, 34% of which was processed by Irish companies, and, separately, Repak funded the recycling of more than 8,300 tonnes, which represented 42% of reprocessing in Ireland. Is it enough? No, it is not. We are well aware we need to make a significant step forward. We fully recognise that Ireland's recycling infrastructure needs to grow. The Minister and I are very conscious of that. The enhanced producer responsibility schemes like Repak and Re-turn are investing in domestic capacity. We want to grow that but it is a challenge in terms of the scale. The most recent regulations by way of the single-use plastics directive and the packaging waste regulation are driving market demand for recycled materials like PET plastics. We want to male significant strides in this regard in the future.

Sentiment score: 0.05

District heating can play a key role in improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Government policy is supportive of the expansion of district heating to contribute to the diversification of fuel supply to decarbonise the heat sector. A district heating steering group was established to support the development of district heating in Ireland. The steering group report, which was approved by Government in July 2023, contains a range of recommendations setting the future policy direction for the development of the sector, including with respect to providing financial support for district heating infrastructure. In line with the district heating steering group report recommendation to provide financial support for district heating, the Department and Ministers are seeking a multi-annual financial allocation for effective district heating projects over the period 2026 to 2030. Investing now in the early phase infrastructure will deliver key backbone elements for district heating networks that will decarbonise heat for larger anchor customers within the decade and can be further leveraged, through future investment, to target smaller heat loads in the medium to longer term. As part of this process, and in line with the infrastructure guidelines, my Department, in partnership with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland's district heating centre of excellence, is preparing a business case seeking to establish future State funding from 2026 to 2030 to support efficient district heating projects in suitable locations, usually urban areas with high heat density.

Sentiment score: 0.56

We are currently actively working to enhance the support scheme for renewable heat to better support district systems. Included in that is ensuring we have industrial waste heat from sectors like pharmaceutical manufacturing and data centres. The SEAI, which administers the scheme, has already completed its 2024 annual review. That made clear recommendations on adapting the scheme for large-scale district heating. That includes raising the investment aid cap to reflect the current intensity of district heat infrastructure. Others were ensuring the eligibility for key components like pipework, energy centres and network connections. We are looking at working to ensure we can support these recommendations. The Minister is also progressing the heat network Bill, which will provide the regulatory certainty but also customer protections and licensing frameworks. What we need to do is come together on this.

Sentiment score: 0.32

I suggest Deputy Ó Murchú write formally to the Department about the specifics of the scheme he is interested in. We will certainly get a response to him. To add to Deputy Byrne's point, we are building momentum in this regard and we can see there are practical realities on the ground in many communities. He talked about the large-scale operation in south Dublin. There is also one in Blanchardstown. Fingal County Council uses waste heat from a data centre to serve public sector businesses and residential customers. There is also a strong pipeline outside Dublin. In Waterford and Galway private developers are working with local authorities to submit preliminary project scopes to the SEAI. There are also feasibility studies in Dundalk, Drogheda, Naas, Maynooth and Arklow and more towns are expressing interest. The Department is currently working with the district heating centre of excellence in the SEAI and we want to ensure this vision is clear and that we can deliver district heating so it can become a mainstream low-carbon solution for many Irish communities.

Sentiment score: 0.22