2026-06-17

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 to provide for the regulation of direct lines; and to provide for related matters. Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom míle buíochas a ghabháil le gach duine a bhí ag cabhrú liom. I wish to briefly acknowledge the people who helped me get elected to the Dáil and also helped me bring this Bill to where it is today. I thank the team at the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA, who met me multiple times, and the Bill’s Office for its guidance. I thank my colleagues in the Independent Technical Group and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and Department officials for engaging constructively with me. I thank my team at the office, who have listened to me tirelessly, and my professors in DCU, who were patient as I developed in my developing years in engineering. One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Section 37 of the Electricity Regulation Act has been on the books for 27 years and allows for direct connections, but in practice it has delivered practically none. The conditions are so restrictive that in a quarter of a century, this provision has been rendered entirely meaningless. With development in our grid and of energy infrastructure across the globe, we need to act. My Bill repeals section 37 and replaces it with something I believe actually works. The scale of the problem we face at the moment is significant. We are curtailing clean energy on a massive scale. We are switching off wind farms, solar installations and renewable sources because the grid cannot absorb what it is generating. At the same time, Irish families and businesses are paying some of the highest electricity bills in Europe. These two facts should not co-exist. The reason they do relates to energy policy failure, and my Bill is trying to fix that. I welcome the constructive work the Government and the Minister have done on this Bill. As the Ceann Comhairle knows, our grid is under enormous pressure but demand is rising and will continue to do so if we look to projected figures across the globe. Connection queues are growing, and the ESB and Eir Grid networks do great work and have great standards but need more resources. The solution to that is with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, and that is what my Bill hopes to provide. These networks need tools and resources to manage and my Bill gives them that. I have raised this issue repeatedly in the House and probably sound like a broken record at this stage, talking about private wires. I have raised it at Leaders' Questions, in committees and directly with the CRU three weeks ago, when it confirmed to me, on the record of the committee, that private wires or direct lines will facilitate more renewables which otherwise could not happen. We are trying to run a modern, renewable system on tools that belong to another era. Countries like Germany are reducing bills by allowing plug-in solar and easier battery roll-out by allowing renewables, and they have safe standards for it. Meanwhile, on another point, we are still making providers install 100,000 analogue remote terminal unit, RTU, boxes which rely on electronic dispatch logging, EDL, and manual dispatch systems. An engineer knows that is absolutely ridiculous. In comparison, operators across Europe and the UK have already moved to secure digital application programming interface, API, systems. We have not. People are struggling with energy costs and we need to act faster to tackle them. While we have been waiting, other countries across the EU have legislated and allowed homes and businesses to reduce their bills. They have increased their FDI and guaranteed investment into their country. A small manufacturer in a rural town in Ireland is paying crippling energy prices while there is a solar farm built two fields away. Under the current system, there is no legal mechanism to run a direct connection between them. My Bill enables it to be done safely. A school with solar panels on its roof, which during the summer months does not have as much of an energy demand, could directly link them to a nearby nursing home or community hub that would benefit from lower electricity costs. Private wires and direct lines can change this situation and the significant issue we have with data centres can be tackled by allowing them to easily connect to renewable energy. The CRU should be the single sheriff in town, but to do so, there will be a monetary cost and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, will have to get more staff and more powers, which is covered in this hefty Bill. One independent regulator in the CRU, one clear process and a mandatory timeline would increase FDI, increase job security and benefit the Irish people and SMEs. Communities in Austria share energy, reducing energy bills with multiple distribution system operators, DSOs, while we are limited here. The valid concern that I have raised about the community benefit fund, which we see with wind energy, would be addressed directly. I know that more can be done on this Bill and I look forward to working constructively with members of the Opposition, as I am a solution-focused TD with a firm intention to address matters constructively on Committee Stage. I will not let my ego get in the way of benefiting the Irish people. The Bill is 18 months in development, it has an Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA, stamp and it answers all of the 47 pre-legislative scrutiny recommendations from the climate and energy committee. It is compliant and it is ready.

Is the Bill opposed?

No. I congratulate the Deputy because I know he has put a significant amount of work into getting the Bill ready for First Stage.

Do not worry. He has a good teacher right beside him.

Congratulations. Since this is a Private Members' Bill, Second Stage must, under Standing Orders, be taken in Private Members' time.

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."