Written Answers Nos. 138-151
138. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the arrangements for the domestic energy credit in multi-occupancy buildings in which there was one account but households are using sub-meters; if there is a mechanism for these households using sub-meters to apply for special consideration for the credit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9621/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraGovernment is acutely aware of the impact that the recent increases in global energy prices has had on households and has prioritised action across Government to support people to stay warm and well through this winter. This is why a €2.4 billion package of supports was implemented during 2022, and a package of once off measures worth €2.5 billion included in Budget 2023. The Budget package included an Electricity Cost Emergency Benefit Scheme through which €550.47 (exclusive of VAT) is being credited to each domestic electricity account in three payments of €183.49 (exclusive of VAT). The first two payments have already been made to accounts and the third will be credited by suppliers to accounts from 1 March. The estimated cost of this scheme is €1.211 billion.
On the 21st of February Government announced a further €470 million package of measures to help social protection recipients from April to July and an extension to the reduced VAT rate on electricity and gas bills until October.
The Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme payments are made to domestic electricity accounts, including those with Pay As You Go meters, which are subject to distribution use of system charges at the rate for urban domestic customers (DG1) or the rate for rural domestic customers (DG2). The scheme uses the single identifier of the Meter Point Registration Number (MPRN) to ensure it can be administered automatically and without an application/approval process. On this basis each payment has reached over 2.1 million accounts, representing well over 90% of eligible accounts.
Despite this advantage, the scheme does have limitations. While one credit is applied per domestic MPRN, there are cohorts such as households on sub meters, that may only received a proportion of the payment. Officials from my Department are examining this matter to determine if a solution can be developed.
Any customer that is in need of additional support may apply for an Additional Needs Payment provided by the Department of Social Protection, including customers on a Pay As You Go meter who have a need for financial assistance to facilitate their continued energy supply. Every effort will be made to ensure that these vulnerable individuals in financial distress, and who qualify, receive an Additional Needs Payment on the same day or as soon as possible where it relates to electricity and heating expenses.
On the 13th of December, Government approved a new Energy Poverty Action Plan, which provides for the establishment of a €10 million fund to further support people in, or at risk of, energy poverty this winter and into 2023, including people on PAYG meters. The fund will provide a further safeguard in addition to the supports from suppliers and the Additional Needs Payment operated by the Department of Social Protection. The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) is also available to provide budgeting advice and advocacy support.
139. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he is satisfied that a new data centre (details supplied) in Ireland will not have any adverse issues in electric supply for domestic households; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9219/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn July 2022, the Government published a new statement on the role of data centres in Ireland’s enterprise strategy. The statement addresses sustainable data centre development to align with Ireland’s renewable energy targets, security of supply, sectoral green house gas emissions, and climate priorities. The goal of this policy is to ensure the positive benefits for sustainability are maximised and that digital technologies are used in a sustainable manner to ensure the energy and circular economy challenges from digitalisation are aligned with our climate objectives. My Department is working regularly across relevant agencies and government departments to support the effective implementation of this policy.
The recently published Climate Action Plan 2023 sets out a plan to implement the carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings along with a roadmap for taking decisive action to halve our emissions by 2030 and reach net zero no later than 2050, as was committed to in the Programme for Government.
The plan sets out measures and actions to ensure electricity demand is managed in line with our climate objectives. Flexible and decarbonised demand from large energy users, such as data centres, is critical to protecting security of supply and ensuring consistency with the binding carbon budgets.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) published on 23 November 2021 the “CRU Direction to the System Operators related to Data Centre grid connection processing” (CRU/21/124). This decision requires data centre connections to have on-site generation (and/or battery storage) that is sufficient to meet their own demand and this generation should also be capable of running on renewably sourced fuels (such as renewable gas or hydrogen) when supplies become more readily available. As part of the Climate Action Plan there is a commitment to review the current gas and electricity connection policies for new Large Energy Users.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) currently has a programme of actions underway to ensure the security of our electricity supply over the coming winters. This programme of actions contains a number of both demand and supply-side mitigation measures to address any potential shortfall. The actions include: procurement of new, enduring capacity through a number of capacity auctions; procuring additional temporary generation; extending the availability of existing generation capacity; and improved demand-side measures.
140. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will provide details of all special advisers employed in his Department; their roles; and their annual salaries. [9712/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is outlined in the table below:
|
Name |
Position |
Current Salary Scale |
|
Paul Kenny |
Policy Adviser to Minister Ryan |
Principal Officer PPC - Point 5 |
|
John McDonald |
Policy Adviser to Minister Ryan |
Principal Officer PPC - Point 3 |
|
Edel Hackett |
Press Adviser to Minister Ryan |
Principal Officer PPC - Point 1 |
There are no advisers appointed by Minister of State Smyth or Minister of State Chambers to this Department.
The 3 advisers referenced above work across the portfolio of both this Department as well as that of the Department of Transport. All three are included in this response as the payment of salaries is made through the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
All payments are made in line with the Ministerial Appointments and Expenses circulars and guidelines issued by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.
142. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his plans to amend the mandates of the CRU, ESB and GNI, as detailed in the Electricity Regulation Act 1999, the Gas Act 1976 and the Electricity (Supply) Act 1927 respectively, to incorporate commitments to act in accordance with national and international climate and environmental law and to ensure engagement and early consultation with local communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9728/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraCRU, ESB and GNI are already obliged to comply with national and international climate and environmental law and other environmental objectives set out in the Programme for Government, Government strategy and policy documents and legislation. The Climate Action Plan 2023 and the Climate Action Framework for the commercial semi-State sector for example will help ensure that they can play a lead role in Ireland’s transition to a carbon neutral economy and society.
There are a number of tools and mechanisms available to ensure that this happens, such as Shareholder Letters of Expectations, oversight agreements, rolling corporate and strategic plans and consideration of consent requests from the organisations. My Department strongly encourages all our State Bodies to engage with the public and local communities to build trust and consensus, which is critical to achieving our climate and environmental objectives.
There are no plans to amend the Gas Act, Electricity Regulation Act and Electricity Supply Act at this point.
143. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will provide an update on the roll-out of the NBP for an area (details supplied); if this date can be reviewed for an earlier connection due to the lack of service in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9833/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Question refers to a premises located in the AMBER area on the National Broadband Plan (NBP) High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website www.broadband.gov.ie. The AMBER area represents the area to be served by the network to be deployed under the NBP State led intervention.
Further details are available on specific areas within County Cork through the NBI website which provides a facility for any premises within the intervention area to register their interest in being provided with deployment updates through its website www.nbi.ie Individuals who register with this facility will receive regular updates on progress by NBI on delivering the network and specific updates related to their own premises as works commence. NBI has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas members for specific queries.
I am advised by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) that, as of 17 February 2023, over 129,400 premises can order or pre-order a high-speed broadband connection across 26 counties, with over 118,600 premises passed across 26 counties and available for immediate connection. NBI has advised that 15,788 premises in County Cork are passed with a high-speed fibre broadband network and available for immediate connection.
The network roll-out for the NBP is divided into 227 Deployment Areas (DAs) across the country. These are typically an area of approximately 25km in radius and in total they cover 96% of Ireland’s landmass. The architecture of the network design is specifically based on the design of the NBI network coming from the Eir exchanges, or the metropolitan area networks (MANs). It is based on an engineering design that allows NBI to reach every premises as quickly as possible working within the confines of how fibre networks are built. Villages, townlands and counties may be covered by a number of DAs which means there are differing timescales for the roll-out across county areas.
Each DA creates a ‘fibre ring’ which is essential to ensure reliability, robustness and resilience. Critical to the success of the network, NBI’s fibre rings are built with back-ups, ensuring that in the event of one fibre cable being disrupted, the whole network continues to perform, protecting customer experience. Each fibre ring that NBI deploys is designed in a way that is non-discriminatory, meaning that as the roll-out progresses, it may pass relatively urban areas at the same time as passing some of the most remote premises within the intervention area. The design utilises existing infrastructure to a very significant degree.
The NBP network build that started in 2020 is scheduled to be completed by 2027. NBI advise that the premises referred to in the question is at a status of Survey Pending.
Surveys are needed to establish the condition of existing poles and ducts, to ascertain whether repairs are needed. NBI’s contractors walk the fibre route to inspect infrastructure and gather detailed information on local conditions and this work is on-going. Further steps are then required prior to fibre build and connections including:
- Survey results fed back to NBI’s design teams who then develop detailed designs for each of the 227 Deployment Areas for submission to the Department for “Approval to Proceed” with fibre build;
- Repair/activities (“Make Ready”) carried out to ensure existing infrastructure is sufficiently prepared to pass the premises with fibre;
- Installation of and connection to electronic equipment in each Local Exchange building;
- Laying of the physical fibre along the poles and ducts;
- Fibre build quality checks, network testing and handover within NBI;
- Upload of specific fibre build details by premises to computer systems within NBI, enabling retail service providers to make connection orders visible on their respective systems which in turn allows premises’ owners to place orders.
- On completion of network build works customers can then place an order and request a connection to be scheduled with the retail service provider of choice.
NBI have created a portal that will serve as a means for Oireachtas members to proactively search for information relevant to their county/local area. The portal provides an up-to-date picture of NBI’s deployment schedule across the 227 Deployment Areas (DAs) in all 26 counties. A particular county can be selected to view an update of the overall number of premises in the Intervention Area, the overall NBP investment in the county, the number of premises passed and connected to date and the status of each of the Deployment Areas with the anticipated date for connection over the lifetime of the project. The dedicated webpage can be accessed here: nbi.ie/reps.
Strategic Connection Points (SCPs) are a key element of the NBP providing high-speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll out of the fibre to the home network. As of 17 February 2023, 864 SCP sites (282 Broadband Connection Points, which are publicly accessible sites, and 582 schools) have been installed and the high-speed broadband service will be switched on in these locations through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development for publicly accessible sites and the Department of Education for school BCPs. In County Cork 24 BCPs have been installed to date. Further details can be found at nbi.ie/bcp-map/.
In County Cork 85 schools have been installed to date for educational access. My Department continues to work with the Department of Education to prioritise schools with no high-speed broadband, within the Intervention Area. Further details of schools in scope are available on the NBI website at nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/.
146. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the process he intends to employ in order to fill the vacancies on the board of Inland Fisheries Ireland, together with a timeline; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9872/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI intend to appoint a new board to Inland Fisheries Ireland, as soon as possible in accordance with Section 12 of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 with the support of the Public Appointments Service (PAS).
147. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will provide a schedule of social media influencers and online personalities, television and or radio personalities engaged by his Department and bodies under his aegis in 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; if he will include the fees expended, name of personality and campaign they were engaged on; and if he will also provide the key performance indicators in respect of their engagement [9897/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has not engaged with any social media influencers or online, television or radio personalities in the period referred to in the Question.
The information sought by the Deputy regarding the agencies under the aegis of my Department is an operational matter for each agency. I will request the relevant bodies to reply directly to the Deputy with the information requested in respect of their organisation.
148. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the work that has been done to date on implementing a law preventing supermarkets from throwing out food that is fit for purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9935/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department published Ireland’s National Food Waste Prevention Roadmap 2023-2025 in November 2022. The Roadmap sets out a number of priority actions to bring the focus on food waste prevention, across key sectors in the food supply chain, together in a coherent manner. Food donation and redistribution plays an important role in preventing food waste and is a key focus of the Roadmap.
In this context it should be noted that significant volumes of surplus food are already donated by retailers to organisations such as FoodCloud for onward distribution to charities.
Examples of actions in the Roadmap that are aimed at further preventing edible food in the retail sector being wasted include:
- Investigate the potential impact of a prohibition on the destruction of edible food in advance of its ‘use-by’ date.
- Investigate the regulatory and legal barriers to ‘Good Samaritan’ acts of donation and whether mandatory donation of edible food from retail outlets would reduce food waste.
- Using the EPA’s Food Waste Charter, support a voluntary target with retailers and the processing industry for a percentage of edible food to be donated.
My Department will be progressing the implementation of such actions in accordance with the associated timelines set out in the National Food Waste Prevention Roadmap 2023-2025.
149. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will report on the progress that National Broadband Ireland is making on the timescale for connections in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9992/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by NBI that, as of 17 February 2023, over 129,400 premises can order or pre-order a high-speed broadband connection across 26 counties, with over 118,600 premises passed and available for immediate connection. Construction is underway across 26 counties demonstrating that the project is reaching scale. The level of connections is increasing on a daily basis and is exceeding projections.
There are 22,874 premises in County Clare that will be passed by National Broadband Ireland with high-speed gigabit fibre broadband as part of the State Intervention under the National Broadband Plan. To date in Clare over 5,092 premises are passed by the NBP high-speed fibre broadband network and available for immediate connection. As of 31 January 1,272 premises are now connected in County Clare.
National Broadband Ireland had a target of 102,000 premises to be passed by the end of January and this target was exceeded. NBI is on track to meet, or exceed its 2023 target of 185,000 premises passed. NBI remains confident that it can complete the network build within the 7 year contracted period.
Strategic Connection Points (SCPs) are a key element of the NBP providing high speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll out of the fibre to the home network. As of 17 February 2023, 864 SCP sites (282 Broadband Connection Points, which are publicly accessible sites, and 582 schools) have been installed and the high-speed broadband service will be switched on in these locations through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development for BCPs and the Department of Education for school SCPs. In County Clare all 7 BCPs have been installed.
In County Clare 28 schools BCPs have been installed by NBI to date for educational access. My Department continues to work with the Department of Education to prioritise schools with no high-speed broadband, within the Intervention Area. Further details are available on the NBI website at nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/.
150. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of retrofit enrolments in County Clare for each of the past five years; if he will outline the targets for each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9993/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Climate Action Plan includes targets to retrofit the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a Building Energy Rating (BER) of B2/cost optimal and the installation of 400,000 heat pumps in existing homes to replace older, less efficient heating systems by end-2030. This represents one of the most ambitious retrofit programmes worldwide and is a core element of the Government's plan to reduce emissions from the residential sector.
In order to reach this target, the Climate Action Plan 2023 includes targets to retrofit the equivalent of 120,000 dwellings to BER B2 or cost optimal equivalent level and install 45,000 heat pumps in existing dwellings in the period 2019-2025. For the second half of the decade, targets will ramp up significantly to deliver on average, approximately 75,000 B2-equivalent home upgrades per year from 2026 to 2030 to achieve the overall target by the end of the decade.
Final data from the SEAI shows that 27,200 home energy upgrades were delivered last year, exceeding the targeted level. Of the total home energy upgrades supported in 2022, 608 were in County Clare. The data requested by the Deputy for the period 2018-2021 is not routinely reported by SEAI. Further information on the SEAI programmes and schemes can be requested by emailing oireachtas@seai.ie.
My Department is working with SEAI to build on the strong performance in 2022. A target of 37,000 retrofits has been set for this year, and a record €356 million in funding has been allocated to SEAI this year for residential and community retrofit to support the achievement of this target.
151. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will outline what is envisaged in terms of the proposed administrative scheme to deal with costs associated with initiating proceedings relating to non-compliance with national law relating to the environment; if the scheme will replace existing protective costs orders; if it will provide for public interest and multi-party actions; the planned timeframe for roll-out of the scheme; if the scheme will be informed by the current review of the civil legal aid scheme and stakeholder submissions to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10003/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Draft Planning and Development Bill 2022, which is currently undergoing Pre-Legislative Scrutiny, contains a draft head on costs in relation to Judicial Review proceedings. This provision, while dealing specifically with judicial review cases under planning legislation, also addresses the Aarhus Convention and EU law obligations to ensure that access to justice in environmental matters is not prohibitively expensive and is predictable in relation to the likely costs to be incurred.
It provides for this in respect of protection for applicants from the costs of the respondent, in the case of an unsuccessful case, by requiring the court to make no order as to costs in any judicial review proceedings relating to non-compliance with national law, or the law of the European Union, relating to the environment. This reflects recent case law in relation to these matters.
Provision is also made in a draft head in the Bill for an administrative scheme to cover the costs of taking judicial review in environmental litigation. The draft head requires me as Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, or a body authorised to do so on my behalf, to establish this scheme, having consulted the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Minister for Justice, and with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. I will be working closely with these colleagues and other stakeholders in the development of this Head as the Bill progresses.
Consultation with the Minister for Justice on the establishment of the scheme, will include, inter alia, consideration of the review of the Civil Legal Aid Scheme and the establishment of the Planning and Environment Court.
