Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 February 2023
93. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will outline the work carried out by the District Heating Steering Group to date; the number of times it has met; when it will complete its work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9866/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra145. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his plans for the expansion of district heating in Ireland, including the establishment of a steering group to oversee the roll-out of district heating and ensure that a robust governance framework is put in place; if these actions will give consumer protection particularly for residents of apartments who are reliant on this form of heating; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9849/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 93 and 145 together.
The District Heating Steering Group was established further to the 2021 Climate Action Plan to coordinate the roll-out of policies and measures to support the expansion of district heating in Ireland. The Steering Group is led by my Department and includes officials of a range of Government organisations with a wide range of relevant expertise in the sector. The Steering Group met on ten occasions in 2022 and undertook an examination of the necessary actions to facilitate the roll out of district heating in the context of ambitious targets for the sector as outlined in the 2021 and 2023 Climate Action Plans.
The work of the Steering Group has centred on the key thematic areas that are integral to the development of the sector: finance, regulation, planning, and research. Working Groups were formed to conduct detailed analysis of these issues. The Steering Group Report is being finalised with a view to submission to Government shortly.
District heating schemes are large-scale systems that are supplied by one or several centralised or decentralised heat sources and serve multiple buildings and multiple customers. Group, or communal, heating schemes are smaller-scale systems that already supply single buildings or complexes. End users in group or communal heating schemes are supplied with heat rather than fuel and the heat supplier in these schemes purchases the fuel at commercial rates, primarily natural gas.
My Department is currently liaising with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities to ensure the development of an appropriate regulatory framework for district heating, which the Government plans to facilitate at scale in Ireland, to include regulation of group heating schemes. The statutory functions of the CRU in relation to regulation of district heating are contained in SI 350 of 2022 and SI 630 of 2022.
