I thank Deputy O'Gorman for raising this important question. The Government has committed to deliver up to 5.7 TWh of indigenously produced biomethane by 2030. In response to this ambitious target, my Department, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, published the national biomethane strategy in May 2024. Implementation of this strategy is ongoing and requires collaboration across key Government Departments and agencies. The strategy contains 25 key strategic actions to ensure the necessary supports and infrastructure are in place to develop a biomethane industry of scale. These supports include capital grant funding, the first round of which has been delivered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to support the development and upgrading of anaerobic digestion plants throughout 2025. My Department will then lead on a second round of capital grant funding to support the industry from 2026 onwards. That is being worked through now. The strategy also commits to the publication of the renewable heat obligation, RHO, that the Deputy asked specifically about. That is a scheme designed to increase renewable fuels used in heat, thereby supporting long-term demand for biomethane. This scheme is currently in its final stage of development. There is a requirement for engaging with the European Commission. There will be a meeting with the Commission next week at official level. It will be brought to the Government as soon as it is ready post that engagement with the Commission. Delivery and monitoring of all actions is undertaken by the biomethane implementation group, which was established in 2024 and is chaired by my Department. The preparation of the strategy’s end-of-year report for 2024 is currently under way and once it is available we will publish it. That engagement with the Commission has started and there will be further meetings at official level. We will move swiftly after that to bring it to the Government.
Sentiment score: 0.32
I agree with the Deputy's analysis that there are major opportunities with biomethane. The original grant scheme was to the tune of about €40 million with 22 applications received. Within that, some of those are to expand existing facilities and others for new ones. The RHO will be an important component in allowing us to grow the sector even further. It will operate similar to the existing renewable transport fuel obligation which has been in place since 2010. We are actively engaging with the Commission. I do not want to give a timeframe yet because we are dependent on that engagement with the Commission, but we want to conclude it very quickly. All Departments, including mine, will have a particular interest in the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund. Regarding alternative fuels and biomethane in particular, and alternative energy sources, I see this as having a particular fit in that regard. I will not commit to a figure because further discussions need to take place. I am very focused on concluding the work with the Commission and then moving forward with the RHO.
Sentiment score: 0.33
The best way we can protect this sector is to grow it and support it. That is where the work on the RHO is particularly important. The Deputy can be assured that I see the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund as a very obvious fit within my Department and the work we are doing on energy transition. That is something we will be discussing and agreeing with colleagues. The previous Government and the previous Minister have very clear views on that, many of which I would support. The best way to protect our indigenous sector in this industry, which is in its infancy, is to grow it further and support it. We can support it through another round of grants in 2026, which we are preparing, and also particularly through the RHO. I would like to see the work with the Commission concluded as expeditiously as possible. Once that is done, I will bring that to the Cabinet to get Government agreement on it and we can move it forward from there.
Sentiment score: 0.57
I thank the Deputy for his question. The warmer homes scheme aims to improve the energy efficiency and warmth of homes owned by people in energy poverty by providing fully-funded retrofits. The scheme is operated by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, on behalf of my Department and is funded through the carbon tax receipts and the European Regional Development Fund. Last year saw a record spend of almost €230 million under the scheme. This resulted in 7,743 upgrades being provided to low-income households, a 31% increase on 2023. This year’s budget has seen a further increase to a record allocation of €280 million. This represents a tenfold increase on the 2020 expenditure figure. The scheme has been delivering a greater number of more complex upgrades in recent years. This is reflected in the average cost of upgrades, which has increased from €2,600 in 2015 to an average of €27,700 in 2024. While these deeper retrofits take longer to complete, significant reductions in the average waiting time still have to be achieved. That is still an issue and I am glad the Deputy has raised it today. While the average wait time has reduced from 26 months in 2022 to 18 months for homes with BER ratings of E, F or G in 2024, we need to do better than that and I will be engaging with the SEAI on this. Specifically on Deputy Cleere's constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny, last year 123 homes in County Carlow and 99 homes in County Kilkenny were upgraded under the scheme. The SEAI data shows that there are 242 homes awaiting upgrades under the scheme in County Carlow and 290 in County Kilkenny.
Sentiment score: 0.32
I am glad the Deputy has raised this today because while I have been able to read into the record details of a reduction in waiting times from 26 months to 18 months, which is fine, that is still a significant length of time for anyone to be waiting. The waiting time has reduced for E, F and G homes, so there is a prioritisation of the worst affected. I will be engaging with the SEAI to see if there is an opportunity to consider age cohorts as well, to see if we can prioritise our senior citizens living in energy poverty. Applicants can contact the SEAI at any time to get further information on the status of their application and I will supply the contact details to the Deputy. Undoubtedly, significant work is required to clear what is effectively a backlog. These are more complex cases and we understand that. There is a certain processing time for applications and while I am glad to see that 26 months has been reduced to 18 months, we are still talking about a more than two-year wait reducing to a year and a half. We need to do better than that.
Sentiment score: 0.30
Growing green skills across the country was something in which the last Government was heavily involved and work is ongoing to grow this new sector. New apprenticeships are now in place and we will be working with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, and other colleagues to further advance that. I visited many of those centres myself during the term of the last Government and was impressed. Obviously, there is pressure on skills across the economy because of full employment. That is a good thing but it comes with its challenges too. I wish to reiterate that homes with a BER of E, F or G are prioritised. Undoubtedly addressing waiting times and reducing them further will require more skilled people in the workforce. That is something I will engage with colleagues on.
Sentiment score: 0.18
I thank the Deputy. It is an important scheme. We will continue it and there are exacting targets there. I would not say it is not working; it is. All schemes can always be improved somewhat. Ireland has one of the most ambitious home retrofit targets in the world. The national retrofit plan sets out how these targets will be met, including an €8 billion financial investment to 2030. There is an absolute commitment by this Government and successive Governments to do this. A range of measures have been introduced in recent years to support the achievement of our targets. This includes enhanced SEAI grant schemes, including expanded eligibility and higher grants and a simplified application process, which we still need to continue to look at. Faster approvals are needed. I just responded to my colleague, Deputy Cleere, on that very thing. It also includes the establishment of a network of 24 SEAI-registered one-stop shops, with further growth in the network expected this year and a reformed warmer homes scheme for homeowners in energy poverty. We have made good progress there but I want to see the processing times reduced further. They have reduced, but they need to go further. There are enhanced supports for retrofitting apartment buildings and flat complexes; new supports for area-based retrofit projects for mixed-ownership estates aimed at encouraging homeowners, regardless of requirements or means, to get a retrofit. I have witnessed those schemes in my constituency, in Portmarnock. The pilot schemes are being expanded further, which needs to happen. There is a new pilot scheme to support the retrofitting of traditionally built homes; two pilots aimed at informing approaches to increase the number of heat pumps installed; the new home energy upgrade loan scheme, the extension of which we launched to An Post Money and Avant, with interest rates as low as 3%; a tax incentive to encourage small-scale landlords to undertake retrofitting; a reduction in VAT for heat pumps to 9% and a 0% rate for solar panels; expanded obligations on energy companies to support homeowners and energy-poor households to reduce energy use. I could go on - there are lots of good things happening. There is an opportunity when a new Government and new Minister come into office to look at what is being done and how it can be improved further.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I gave quite a detailed answer to Deputy Cleere earlier, particularly on the warmer homes scheme because it focuses on lower income and more complex homes with BER E, F and G ratings. I want to see a reduction in the waiting period. The Deputy mentioned a constituent in Dingle who waited 18 months for a decision. The average processing time has reduced from 24 to 18 months but I want to see it reduced further but it cannot be turned over overnight. However, there have been 162,000 home energy upgrades - more than 55,000 B2 upgrades, 22,000 fully-funded upgrades under the warmer homes scheme and 10,500 local authority homes as well. The vast majority have been paid for through the carbon tax, ring-fenced funding to enable us to retrofit homes. I want to improve and expand it. We will continue to look at that. Some €280 million has been allocated to the warmer homes scheme. That is an elevenfold increase on what it was in only 2020. It can always be improved and we need to do that.
Sentiment score: 0.25
I am reviewing all the schemes. There is an opportunity when a new Minister comes in to look at what is working and what can be improved. I would like to see us accelerate the transition from solid fuel but we should not rubbish the existing schemes. From 2020 alone, what Ireland is investing in this area is unprecedented - €1.1 billion and 162,000 home energy upgrades, which I mentioned already, and almost 230,000 grant support applications received by the SEAI. I will look in particular at our more senior citizens in energy poverty, which I mentioned in an earlier response to another Deputy. I want to look at how the categorisation works and how it can work. I am not content with an average waiting period of 18 months, which I said. I think it is fair enough to say that. We need skills in this sector too and we need to pay for it. I am happy to take constructive views on board. I note the alternative fairer plan to which the Deputy referred. I could not see how that would be paid for in order to expand it. I will look at these schemes and take Deputies' views on board. I am engaging with the SEAI around the criteria and how the processing time can be improved for these grants, particularly the warmer homes grants.
Sentiment score: 0.24
Storm Éowyn was an unprecedented weather event. We have had debates and discussions in this Chamber. Many Members have views on it. At the peak, 768,000 homes, businesses and farms had no electricity. I commend all the crews - more than 3,000 ESB Network contractors and colleagues who assisted from Britain and the EU were out there to restore power to our citizens. I acknowledge this was incredibly difficult for a lot of our citizens, the very last of whom were three weeks without power. That means we have to work further on the resilience of our system. I met ESB Networks regularly over that period. I met its representatives virtually the day after the storm. I met them again on 22 January and only last night again. The Deputy can be assured from the Taoiseach down - we have a Cabinet committee in relation to our response to the storm and what we can do to bring our winter programme forward. I mentioned to other Deputies investment in PR6, from 2026 to 2030, as a measure we can bring forward to this year. More than 3,000 ESB poles were replaced post storm along with about 900 km of overhead wires. On issues regarding forestry, I engaged directly with the Minister, Deputy Heydon. We met just last night along with officials from the Department of agriculture, my Department and ESB Networks around tree corridors and how we can advance a programme in that regard. I assure Deputies that we will continue to advance these works. There will be major investment in our grid from 2026 on of more than €13.4 billion. That is up from just over €5.4 billion over the previous five-year period.
Sentiment score: 0.06