Legislative Programme

2. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he will provide reassurance that the Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill will continue to be prioritised in this Dáil term to provide certainty to the nine pilot district heating projects currently under development, the Dublin district heating scheme, and for the expansion of the Tallaght district heating scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [78244/26]

I thank the Deputy for this important question. The heat (networks and miscellaneous provisions) Bill will establish a regulatory framework to support the development and expansion of district heating networks in Ireland. The legislation will contribute to the decarbonisation of the heating sector and support the achievement of Ireland's climate objectives. Advancing this legislation is an absolute key priority for me. Following the Government decision of 30 October 2024 to approve the drafting of the general scheme, we have engaged extensively with Government Departments, the Office of the Attorney General and other stakeholders including IrDEA, the umbrella representative group for this sector in Ireland. The engagement informed a number of revisions to the general scheme, which was subsequently approved in July of this year. The revised heads of the Bill underwent pre-legislative scrutiny before the joint committee, which the Deputy was involved in. That was in September 2026, just a couple of months ago, and we are currently working with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to progress the drafting of the Bill. Publication and introduction of the Bill is expected in early 2027. While the new legislative framework will provide greater certainty for investors and project developers, district heating projects can and do progress in advance of this legislation. I engage with the sector on a regular basis. We have also brought forward the pre-construction fund. The objective of this fund is to support the development work required to bring projects from conception stage towards construction. Following a competitive process I have approved funding for nine district heating projects of about €5 million in Portlaoise, Galway, Leixlip, Blanchardstown, Monaghan, Castletroy, Naas, Drogheda and Dundalk. I am delighted to see that. Planning is under way for phase 2 of the first operational scheme in Tallaght. The project received €4.92 million from the climate action fund. In addition, €50 million is being allocated to district heating in Poolbeg where significant progress has already been made for preliminary design and advance works. We have also provided a fund of up to €100 million, allocated under the NDP, for continued development of efficient district heating networks.

It is great to hear that the Bill will come in early 2027. The climate committee has been continuing its pre-legislative scrutiny. which we hope to finalise today, and we will have a report for the Minister. We visited Copenhagen, as a committee, last week to look at how they do things over there. Obviously, it is totally different from here. They have been doing district heating over there for 100 years. It is quite interesting in that it started out as a cost-of-living measure 100 years ago. They turbocharged it during the oil crisis in the seventies when they realised they needed to wean themselves off unsustainable, volatile and expensive fossil fuels. While now it is also a sustainability measure and almost entirely based on renewable sources of heat in Copenhagen, it did start out just using oil, gas and so on. There are very interesting structures in Copenhagen. We ask the Minister to look into them. They are municipality led rather than private sector led.

We are way behind in district heating. We have one scheme, but there is a good pipeline with those nine projects I mentioned which are being supported at pre-construction. There is a number of schemes in planning right now and a Galway scheme with planning consented. There is real momentum in the sector and there are vast opportunities. I agree with the Deputy. I know the committee visited Copenhagen and that was also a very productive and informative visit. I want to get these projects into construction. The pre-construction fund is really good because it helps to derisk projects at a preparatory stage. The capital fund under the NDP also supports those projects and their delivery. I do not know whether the committee has visited Poolbeg but it should. The waste energy plant itself powers over 80,000 homes from an electricity perspective but is ready to go with regard to district heating. That one scheme would decarbonise heat in this country by 5%. We want to get that done. Dublin City Council has lodged for planning on that connection. I have engaged with them directly myself. I thank the Deputy for the question. It is an important sector with lots of opportunities for us.

We have a target of 15.8% for renewable heating by 2030. It is going to be very difficult to get that. Poolbeg will obviously play a huge role. We visited a similar waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen called CopenHill. They were trying to figure out how to get public buy-in into putting a big incinerator in the middle of a residential area. They put a ski slope on it and a climbing wall. It is absolutely incredible stuff. They have multiple heat sources over there. Everything in Copenhagen, from homes to hotels to industry to shopping centres, is both heated and cooled via these district heating schemes. It is absolutely incredible. We have a long way to go but it is a means of keeping prices down. Average energy prices for a household in Copenhagen are somewhere between €1,200 and €1,500 per year. It is a cost-of-living measure as well as a sustainability measure. The schemes here have a long way to go, but we will give the Minister every support we can in ensuring they are expanded and brought to their full potential, including the one in Tallaght in my constituency.

The Deputy might break into song: "Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen". Deputy Ahern is far too young but Deputy Pa Daly will know that song.

Never heard of it.

I am sure he has. This sector is ready to go. Deputy Ahern has raised it from a decarbonisation perspective, which absolutely makes total sense, if we consider the number of heat pumps that would have to be installed to equate to one plant. We are still absolutely committed to heat pumps and electrification, as we covered in the first question and there are further questions coming up. What we want to see is projects starting. The sector has responded really well to the pre-construction fund and the allocation for the first time of dedicated funding on the capital side under the NDP. The heat (networks and miscellaneous provisions) Bill will be important because we need a regulatory framework. That is not stopping the development. The sector really wants to see that published. The work the committee is doing on pre-legislative scrutiny is very important. I think it will conclude that today and issue the report to us. We are still drafting the Bill. I am meeting with the Attorney General this morning, and that will form part of that meeting as well. We are moving on it. Over the course of the next couple of years, I really want to see these schemes deployed and connected.