Vol. 1028 No. 6
1. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will outline the commitments he will seek from international counterparts at COP27, with particular reference to climate ambition, climate finance, loss and damage, and fossil fuel non-proliferation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55345/22]
Will the Minister outline the commitments he will seek from international counterparts at COP27, with particular reference to climate ambition, climate finance, loss and damage, and fossil fuel non-proliferation? Will he make a statement on the matter?
I look forward to a comprehensive and balanced outcome from COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh. I appreciate the value of having a self-described "African COP" to continue progress made at COP26 on key issues such as climate finance, loss and damage, adaptation and delivering greater ambition. Together with my EU colleagues, I am committed to working with parties to enhance collective ambition across mitigation, adaptation and finance within this critical decade for climate action and in line with the best available science. I support the call made in the Glasgow Climate Pact for all parties to adopt ambitious national declared contributions, recognising these are key mechanisms to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Scaling up climate finance for climate resilience and addressing climate-induced loss and damage will be two core issues. Loss and damage is a key priority for Ireland, and I am keen to see finance scaled up for loss and damage in ways that meet the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable. I also support calls for improved accessibility, quality and transparency of adaptation finance, particularly for the least developed countries and small island developing states.
I support measures to enable sustainable, climate-resilient development through the use of clean and renewable energy sources. Ireland is committed to accelerating the shift from fossil fuel dependence and has ceased issuing new licences for oil and gas exploration. As Ireland is a member of the Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance, I will promote and support measures at international level which avoid locking in further long-term fossil fuel consumption.
The Minister might clarify the point about new licences. It was reported that a licence was issued or extended last week. I ask him to pick up on the concern about the potential of the Energy Charter Treaty and the comeback that energy companies might have.
The question I wanted to raise, however, is about climate finance and the commitment to €225 million per annum from 2025. What is the commitment for 2022? We heard at a meeting of the Committee on Environment and Climate Action that the best estimate for Ireland's fair share, as opposed to the target that is there, is between €475 million and €545 million per year. Does the Minister agree with that figure?
The issue of the Energy Charter Treaty is under consideration, I think, across European countries. There is due to be a meeting in Mongolia, I think, in the coming weeks. A lot of concern has been expressed, rightly, about the need to make sure the Energy Charter Treaty and every other international treaty stitches in the Paris Agreement and delivers and supports that. I do not think that has any bearing - it has not in any way, as far as I have seen - on the issue of our ending of oil and gas exploration licences. I do not think it has ever threatened or influenced a decision in that regard at all one way or the other. Such decisions were always made in such a way that we recognised that those existing licences would not be revoked. The decision to which the Deputy referred - Europa, I think, is the name of the field - was a routine extension of the licence conditions that already existed. As a State, we do not go back on contracts or revoke our agreements. That decision is a continuation of the current and correct policy.
Climate finance is key. We made that commitment. It takes time to ramp up. The figure in the latest budget was €120 million, if my memory serves me correctly. That will accelerate significantly to meet the €225 million target in 2025. I do not know the basis for the Deputy's figure as to what our fair share is. If he could forward me the reference to that, I would find that useful.
I will make one or two points about the defensive approach the Irish State has taken. First, our climate finance is not tied to any other conditions.
You are over time, Minister.
We tend to make very good quality contributions, but we do need to increase the finance, and it will rise to the €225 million promised.
We had a very helpful and informative session at the Committee on Environment and Climate Action, which is what prompted me to ask a number of these questions. The issue of the quality and quantity of climate finance was raised and, as the Minister said, Ireland was commended on the quality, but it was said the quantity is a different story. I will be happy to send those figures from Christian Aid and Trócaire to the Minister.
Regarding Ireland's requirement to submit its long-term strategy to the European Commission, has this been done with regard to setting out a plan to 2050? What about the commitment to a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty? Will the Minister try to advance this at COP27?
The latter issue is connected to our membership of the Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance. We know the science. If all the known reserves let alone new resources or reserves are used, it would send us beyond a critical tipping point. As a result, we must join with other countries in starting to restrict supply in order to keep coal, oil and gas in the ground. What was the first part of the Deputy's question?
It was about a long-term strategy.
Under climate law, we are due to present our climate action plan and our long-term strategy in the coming weeks. One obviously influences and complements the other. That will inform the same approach we have with the European Commission in terms of our contribution. Europe brings our nationally determined contribution to the climate talks as a common approach. We will make our contribution to the European effort and it will be backed up by our long-term strategy, which is also required under our climate law.
3. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the reason that the number of attic and cavity wall insulation works has decreased dramatically in recent years; if he accepts that approximately 165,000 homes have no such works completed and that in the region of 500,000 homes could benefit from such improvement works; if he will increase the 80% grant and reduce the administrative burden for accessing these supports in light of the urgent climate, energy and cost-of-living crises, and in order to accelerate the roll-out of shallow retrofits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55346/22]
Why has the number of attic and cavity insulation works decreased so dramatically in recent years? Does the Minister accept that approximately 165,000 homes have no such works completed and that in the region of 500,000 homes could benefit from such improvement works? Will he increase the 80% grant and reduce the administrative burden for accessing these supports in light of the urgent climate, energy and cost of living crises and to accelerate the roll-out of shallow retrofits?
The climate action plan contains a target to reduce emissions from the residential sector by retrofitting the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a building energy rating, BER, of B2 cost optimal and installing 400,000 heat pumps in existing homes to replace older, less efficient heating systems by the end of 2030.
Earlier this year, the Government launched a package of supports to make it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades. In recognition of the importance of high-impact shallow measures in reducing household energy demand, a special enhanced grant rate of 80% was introduced specifically for attic insulation and cavity wall insulation for all households. Figures for September compared with those for last year show that demand is exceptionally high across all schemes this year, with applications up almost 150%. Home energy upgrade completions are up 67% on last year, home upgrades to a BER B2 rating or better are up 104% on last year and the number of homes upgraded under Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, energy poverty schemes is up 136%. We are on track to achieve the overall target of 27,000 this year and we are targeting 37,000 next year, which was part of the long-term plan.
We are building towards the annual numbers we need to achieve to reach our overall target of 500,000. The SEAI estimates there could be up to 500,000 homes with attic insulation of a thickness of less than 120 mm of mineral wool. It also estimates that approximately 162,000 homes have cavity wall construction that could benefit from insulation. Approximately 80,000 of those homes were constructed pre 1980 and could particularly benefit from cavity wall insulation.
We are working with the SEAI and other stakeholders to ensure that this opportunity is maximised. In recent years, the number of homeowners installing attic and cavity wall insulation has fallen compared with the levels seen a decade ago. This could be attributed to a range of economic factors - mainly homeowner choice. This is one of the reasons we introduced the 80% grant, and it is working. So far this year, demand for attic and cavity insulation grants has been very strong with a near tripling in applications. In its most recent forecasts, the SEAI advises that it expects to complete in the order of 20,000 attic and cavity wall insulations by year-end, which is part of the overall figure of 27,000.
As is always the case with retrofitting, there is a significant volume of figures. Some attention to detail is required in order to drill down into them. I repeat a point I made previously, namely, that it is not entirely impressive to continually reference a benchmark of last year when we had a lockdown. In that light, an increase of 150% is not as impressive as it might sound.
The Minister referred to the SEAI's expectation that 20,000 attic insulations will be completed by the end of the year. In 2011, we completed 52,000 attic insulations. We know there is low-hanging fruit in this regard. There are 162,000 cold homes. If these homes only got attic and cavity wall insulation, it would be a significant help.
Regarding the 80% grant, the Minister said that the number of applications has trebled. How many applications have there been? How many specific programmes of works have been delivered under the 80% grant? I am inclined to believe there is a significant opportunity for further roll-out.
I am glad the Deputy went back to 2011 because there was a massive increase in retrofitting of buildings in the period 2008 to 2011. We were in government at the time and I was the Minister responsible. I thought the roll-out and expansion of insulation of housing was critical. It fell back in subsequent years for a variety of complex reasons. Perhaps it was not centre stage. It is one of those projects that you can easily put off because it might be seen as a hassle. There are questions about what to do in technical terms and what is the right or the wrong thing.
Regarding the figures relating to the doubling or trebling in the context of what happened previously, the level of increase is primarily from what was a base even before Covid. We were not doing anything like those numbers even back in 2018 and 2019, so there has been a significant ramping up. We are meeting the targets we set in the climate action plan. That is important. People might be despondent about climate change and feel that we cannot do anything. What we are showing with retrofitting is that we can do something. I am of the view that it is only warming up - excuse the pun. The insulation of those 27,000 houses this year will influence the owners of neighbouring properties. We will get the 37,000 completions next year and go higher the following year and the year after that. It is on an upward path, which is where we need to keep it.
There are a couple of things to watch. One is the amount of work completed. My understanding is that the target for this year was 27,800, not 27,000. Regarding the better energy warmer homes scheme, the SEAI indicated to us that it would get in the region of 4,000 rather than 4,800. Let us keep an eye on those.
We need to talk about cold homes and the people we are lifting out of energy poverty as much as the targets that are being hit. There is a real opportunity in these shallow retrofits to do that but there needs to be a reorientation of the schemes. We have new solid fuel regulations. Will the Minister prepare a scheme for people who are dependent on solid fuel to heat their homes? This group is particularly exposed to the risk of fuel poverty this winter and needs a dedicated scheme.
Regarding the exact end-of-year figures, whether it is 27,800, 26,800 or 27,000, there are certain factors that are outside our control. These are 27,000 homes that must make a decision regarding timing and so on. One way or the other, either side of that figure is not the key measure. I am aware that 44,000 applications have been received, so the pipeline for next year is looking strong.
The real constraint has been around the workforce. If you talk to anyone, you will realise that the demand is limitless at the moment.
For contractors, there is a huge volume of interest. The restriction was in the number of workers. Improving this, as the Minister, Deputy Harris, is doing through the apprenticeship schemes, is the key way to get those numbers up.
Turning to further developments and schemes, we are working now on the final stages of our climate action plan for next year. We will have to publish it in mid-December. We will consider other measures across all the different sectors, but we have not signed off on those details yet so I will have to come back to the Deputy on this aspect.
4. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will provide an update on Bord na Móna's proposed Derryaad windfarm; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55661/22]
This question is to ask the Minister to provide an update on Bord na Móna’s proposed Derryaad wind farm; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
While the matter raised is a commercial matter for Bord na Móna, my Department understands that the company is preparing a new planning application for the proposed 150 MW Derryaad wind project and is currently consulting with the local community and other relevant stakeholders. The outcome of this extensive community outreach will inform the project and its scope. My Department also understands that Bord na Móna intends to submit the new planning application for the project to An Bord Pleanála under the provisions of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006 in early 2023. Bord na Móna has additional information publicly available on the dedicated project website: www.derryaddwindfarm.ie.
By way of a broader response, I am very supportive of the strategic direction Bord na Móna is taking. The company is proving itself successful as it moves from brown to green. I believe wind farms on the likes of former bogs can be built in a way that is sensitive. It will not be done without complications and challenges, but my understanding is that the court decision, which quashed the original planning application, related to an issue concerning whether it was necessary for Bord na Móna to precisely identify the tip height of the turbines. My understanding is that some of those issues have been resolved. It is now a matter for the planning authorities to decide the complex issues often encountered around these projects. The broad direction and success that Bord na Móna is deriving from its renewable energy strategy is something I welcome and support.
In saying this is a commercial matter, what we as a State must think about is whether this is the best use of State land. During the discussions we have had in the last two and half years, since the start of this term and concerning the climate Act, it has become absolutely clear that when we have climate action we must also have biodiversity action. These are essentially two heads of the same coin and we should not have one without the other. While a wind farm on peatland may reduce emissions from an energy efficiency perspective, we must look at whether the impact of this will be a loss when we consider biodiversity and carbon sequestration within peatland itself. There is clear evidence in this regard. A five-year study has been conducted on this subject and has clearly shown that rewetting drained bogs reduces carbon emissions, establishes optimum conditions for sequestration and sets the site for a climate-cooling trajectory. The question for us, therefore, is whether this project is the best use of State land. I do not believe it is. We do need wind farms, but they need to be in the correct places. I would like to hear the Minister's opinion on this point.
The location of wind farms is a sensitive issue. All Deputies in this House will have different views on where the appropriate locations might be. I believe there is a role in this regard for the likes of Bord na Móna's lands in the midlands for wind farms for a variety of reasons. First, Bord na Móna has historical experience of working with communities, employing people from communities and getting engineering projects delivered in a way that has the support of local communities. This has been one of the real difficulties we have had with wind farm projects. Equally, these locations tend to be long distances from neighbouring houses or other areas, so these are some of the few areas of the country where we do not have some of the dispersed density of housing.
The Deputy is absolutely correct that we must treat our boglands with the utmost sensitivity. I saw in a similar project already developed by Bord na Móna near the Bog of Allen, and I cannot remember the exact name of the wind farm, while visiting it during its construction phase what I would imagine was a similar approach to that the company will take with this project. The area for the turbines obviously must have foundations in the bog area, extending down into the marl below so there is stability. The rest of these bogs will typically have seen the extraction of the majority of the peat. Once construction has been completed then, as I understand it, this will allow for the rewetting of the vast extent of the area of the bog. A turbine is located within it and there is a need for a road and other infrastructure, but I believe this can be done in a way which will allow for the complex trade-off required in these situations.
We could go with the view that we would have nothing in any of these areas and that we would, instead, put our wind farms elsewhere. There would be difficulties in western mountains and in the south west and north west, and Deputies from there would say they get too large a concentration of wind farms in those areas. I believe that there is a role for wind energy generation in the midlands on the likes of Bord na Móna's lands. This must be undertaken sensitively and planning approval must be got from An Bord Pleanála. This is not a certainty, but I believe the company is right to try.
I absolutely agree. I believe there is a strength in Bord na Móna working with communities. What I think it must be doing, however, is working with communities to restore, protect and rewet those peatlands. There should be a just transition for those communities. There were proposals for a mid-Shannon wilderness park in the midlands. Is this a concept that the Minister supports? There is great potential in this area to have a wilderness park and a very natural area of this type. Considering it is State land and, as the Minister said, it is a long distance from households, this seems the perfect opportunity to create something really natural, useful and biodiverse in our State. Does the Minister support the creation of this mid-Shannon wilderness park? Will he work with Longford County Council and Bord na Móna to progress this proposal?
When I visited the wind farm project I spoke about that was being developed by Bord na Móna, and it is now complete and operating. I also took the opportunity to visit an example of where Bord na Móna is engaged in the rehabilitation of bogs. I saw the skills the company had in extracting peat were the same skills needed in blocking drains and managing the water table. The Deputy is absolutely correct that it is possible to get an incredible return of nature, including birdlife, insect life and flora and fauna of every variety. There is a huge benefit to be found here. It is not just in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions but also in the restoration for biodiversity in the rehabilitation of our boglands. I do, therefore, support this endeavour. I do not have the details of the particular park the Deputy referred to, but the midlands cannot just be a repository for large-scale new energy industrial infrastructure. It must be the home of the restoration of nature at scale, particularly in our bogland habitats. I very much support this concept in general.
5. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he has engaged with a company (detail supplied) and its partners with a view to expanding its pilot programme, which uses surplus wind energy to provide households at risk of fuel poverty with hot water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55347/22]
This question is to ask the Minister if he has engaged with a company, EnergyCloud, and its partners with a view to expanding its pilot programme, which uses surplus wind energy to provide households at risk of fuel poverty with hot water and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Officials in my Department met with representatives of the social enterprise referred to in the question. I welcome the trial, which I understand is in co-operation with Clúid Housing, and I look forward to seeing the results. The Government is acutely aware of the impact the recent increases in global energy prices is having on households. A €2.4 billion package of supports was implemented last year and a package of once-off measures worth €2.5 billion was included in the recent budget. This included a new electricity cost emergency benefit scheme and an extensive range of social protection measures to support people with the increased cost of living.
The national retrofit plan, as I said earlier, sets out how the Government will achieve its targets to retrofit the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a building energy rating, BER, of B2 by 2030. This will improve the energy efficiency and reduce energy waste in these homes. To support the plan, the budget also provided for the following: €337 million for home energy upgrades next year, including free upgrades for 6,000 homeowners at risk of energy poverty; a continuation of the 80% grant rate we talked about earlier; and €87 million to be spent in respect of an energy efficiency programme for social housing.
A new action plan to combat energy poverty will set out all the measures being implemented ahead of the coming winter, as well as key longer-term measures to ensure that those least able to afford increased energy costs are supported and protected.
That new plan will be published in the coming weeks.
On EnergyCloud, I am not directly familiar with the project but it uses online data-sharing systems to enhance energy efficiency. Those efficiency gains can be used, if I understand correctly, to provide for those energy services for other households and that technology-based digital and clean-energy energy-efficiency revolution. The concept is exactly the sort of project that I believe has a future. I do not have the specific details of the company but my officials tell me that it seems to be an interesting prospect and we are supportive of the concept. We look forward to the results of the trial.
In terms of the outline, the Minister is correct. EnergyCloud is working with Clúid Housing. Explicitly, it is taking what would otherwise be waste renewable energy, mostly, during the night, and heating the hot water tanks in the homes of many people on their pilot.
It said, as recently as Sunday night, that had it the capacity at scale it could have heated, because of the amount of surplus wind energy, 1.8 million hot water tanks in homes across the State. That is, obviously, the upper end, but it gives one the sense of the scale and opportunity that is there.
Particularly given the energy crisis we are in, I would appeal to the Minister - I have raised this with him on a number of occasions and I know others have as well - to take a personal interest in this, look at the opportunity of it and look at the barriers that might exist in terms of technology or engineering. It is a great opportunity to do something positive in the renewables and fuel-poverty sphere.
Not meaning to be rude, but I checked on my phone the EirGrid dashboard, which we all look at, I am sure, on a regular basis. One can see wind power is providing 55% of our needs as we speak.
The Deputy is absolutely right. Increasingly, there are moments - we have seen it in the past month or six weeks - where the scale of the wind power resource available to us is beyond compare. Particularly in the middle of the night, that power, which is effectively coming in at almost a zero marginal cost as prices are very low in the wholesale market in those time periods, finds it difficult to find a home or a use. We need to do everything, both on the domestic scale in the likes of this project but also among big industrial and other users, to switch our demand to those periods when the wind is blowing strongest, particularly in the middle of the night. In that way, we can save emissions and save householders much expenditure. The benefit for the energy system is that the curtailment cost at present, where we have power available but we do not have demand for it, was the most significant reason our bid recently in the auction system went up higher than we expected. The curtailment of constraints on what is a very high renewable system now in many instances is costing us. Using that so that one keeps the costs down and one keeps the energy suppliers paid rather than the curtailment of their power is absolutely the future direction we need to go in.
I would ask the Minister and his Department officials to meet with EnergyCloud and for the Minister to take a personal interest in this. There is a pilot under way. There are significant, serious and credible stakeholders involved in this who are committed to it and who have got the pilot up and running. It is already proving a success. The pilot has a tangible benefit to those households that are part of it. It is a significant opportunity. I would appeal to the Minister to take a personal interest in it and to commit to meeting with EnergyCloud.
I am sure to do this at scale there are other considerations that must be made. I ask the Minister and his departmental officials to work with EnergyCloud to maximise the opportunity there.
My officials have met the company, as I said, and were enthused in reporting back to me.
In April 2021, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage launched the scheme. The Government is fully appraised and supportive of it. The project was being run through Clúid Housing where the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has a particular interest but that will not preclude me from following up and keeping a keen eye on the results from it. It has implications, not only for the housing sector but for the energy sector too. I will keep in touch with the project.
