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seen it conclude all peat operations and emerge as a leading provider of renewable energy and climate solutions. It will avoid the need for large-scale asset disposal, including operational wind farms and development projects. Following the request of Bord na Móna, the Minister for Climate, Energy

onshore wind in Dún Laoghaire but there are two particular projects in the Dublin Array and the Codling Wind Park that will deliver a lot, not just in clean energy but also for the facilities onshore and the use of Dún Laoghaire Harbour to help deliver that

fertiliser manufactured here at home because we do not have the gas, but we do have wind. Has the Minister looked at the possibility of using that type of energy in the context of developing green ammonia plants here? Second, there is a great opportunity in relation

bring this to a conclusion. At some stage, we need some collective debate on energy. We are all dealing with individual cases of objections to solar, objections to gas generation, objections to wind onshore, and objections to wind offshore potentially. We desperately need the offshore wind. This … something we have got to progress through planning. I am hoping we can get wind farms built, certainly through 2030 to 2031. If we do not, then we are in trouble from an energy perspective. As a collective - when I say "collective", I mean the entire Oireachtas

milestone of over 2 gigawatts of installed solar capacity was achieved in November; - offshore wind capacity is also being prioritised, with the Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy and Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien TD, announcing the acceleration of the National Designated Maritime Area Plan for offshore

publication of the national DMAP proposal and accompanying public participation statement. That national DMAP will ultimately designate renewable energy sites around Ireland’s coast that are suitable for offshore wind development, including fixed, floating and floating demonstration locations. The proposal set out information on the scope

simply need more renewables. We need to expand our capacity, protect our consumers from the volatile markets and accelerate our output of renewable energy. That will entail looking at our planning laws, which must have local consent, and we must also invest in the grid. I welcome … date, especially in relation to the SEAI grants for residential solar panels, heat pumps and intensive offshore wind developments. Ireland is hoping to have 5 GW of offshore energy by 2030. The benefits are clear in that we are going to have energy security. We are going

sustainable to have an 80% target for renewable energy by 2030 while also expecting a 40% increase in energy generation. Ultimately, because of the cost increases in wind, this will be pushed onto solar, which will destroy rural Ireland as far as I am concerned

create sustainable communities by giving people different options. The key to giving people options is having energy self-security. While we have some progress in offshore wind, there have not been any new contracts for many years. We have some movement on solar but we have absolutely nothing … battery storage and green hydrogen conversion - and the best rate of this is 60% of overall power production - we are self-sufficient in energy so we have capacity to make revenue from data companies and export to the grid through France and the UK. There is a massive

Rural Ireland is bearing the brunt of the country's energy policy and getting very little in return. In Mayo and right across the west of Ireland, planning applications for huge wind turbines are landing at massive rates. These structures are not small. Indeed, they are bigger than … only fair. The Minister should provide updated guidelines for families in relation to wind turbines. Meanwhile, households right across Ireland are paying the highest electricity costs in Europe. More than 500,000 energy bills are now in arrears and data centres are the primary driver of this. They

This reinforces the argument that we have to double, treble or even quadruple our efforts on energy self-sufficiency and ramping up renewables, not only wind, but also wave, tidal, solar and producing green hydrogen. We have to treat it like a war-time situation. If this eases

difficult decisions at times. Ultimately, decarbonising our energy system is the best way to secure energy independence and reduce costs for families. That means clearing the decks for progress in offshore wind, like others have mentioned here, and as Deputy Heneghan said, clearing the decks for progress

demand can in turn drive the type of investment that we need to see in renewable energy in this country. We need to see improvements in the amount of offshore wind that we will develop over the next five, ten or 15 years. Data centres have a role

powers? Absolutely. However, it surely must also mean preventing energy poverty before it actually occurs. Fundamentally, that means wider structural reforms in our energy system. As I have said on numerous occasions, the only way we can genuinely protect consumers from future fossil fuel crises is by reducing … households targeted in particular. We need to rapidly scale up public investment in offshore wind, solar, plug-in solar and battery storage. We need to accelerate grid modernisation while ensuring that the large energy users, like data centres, pay their fair share. At present, the bulk

Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the position regarding the acceleration of offshore wind development under the Climate Action Plan 2025, including progress on grid integration and planning reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60514/25

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the total capacity output available under existing wind generation schemes; the projected output if all wind farms currently at various stages of the planning system were to come to fruition; and if he will make

Dáil Éireann: notes that: — Storm Éowyn made landfall in Ireland on 23rd January, 2025, breaking all-time record wind speeds; and — the scale of damage and disruption to transport, energy, water, telecommunications and internet services was unprecedented, exposing the fragility of our infrastructure, in the face

mentioned by the Green Party and others. I just want them to be done. As long as they get done and we reduce energy costs, that is the most important thing. We lack a system of consistent and transparent cost-benefit and fiscal sustainability assessments when it comes … power in relation to State and semi-State bodies. As I have pointed out 100 times, a wind farm or solar farm cannot directly supply a nearby factory with energy, even if they are only metres apart, without going through the ESB or Eir. That need to change

Deputy is ignoring the great work being done on securing renewable energy in this country. As of last February, 48% of Ireland's power was powered by onshore wind. They are facts the Deputy simply cannot ignore. The Deputy also talked about how we need to ensure there

change in our investment in renewables. At Cabinet level, there is the clearing house for offshore energy. However, we have to talk about what we are doing with regard to onshore wind and solar and how we can make sure we have a more transparent but expedited planning

Dublin sometimes. I am a firm believer in investment in renewable energy. We are way behind where we could be. We have the potential to create 37 GW of offshore wind by 2050 and possibly another 15 GW of onshore wind and solar. That is before we even

repeatedly, a rich country that unfortunately feels so poor for far too many. The price of energy is at the heart of that. Leaving aside the delayed development of offshore wind, our so-called moonshot moment, where has that gone? We were supposed to be generating much more … offshore wind than we have at the moment. In fact, the targets have remained unmet on at least two or three occasions and the goalposts are shifting all of the time. The answers are there in terms of a renewable and retrofitting revolution but this Government does

south east. I know Rosslare Europort also has plans in respect of offshore renewable energy but the two ports complement each other because the Port of Waterford is seeking to support offshore wind turbine staging, assembly and maintenance operations. It is seeking to create a regional supply chain

infrastructure there, as the Deputy said, in the context of energy in the mid-west. I would be positive. Some Deputies have been overly negative, and deliberately so, for political reasons. We are making progress on offshore wind. One cannot wave a magic wand and just produce … Ukraine through the invasion by Russia and we have an energy crisis of one kind or another. I would point out that there are huge opportunities, which we have seen in the context of onshore wind. As I say to all Deputies, close

renewable energy in this country. We have reached a record of circa 8 GW of renewable energy generation capacity, which is up from 4.8 GW in 2020. Onshore wind now provides very significant levels of power. Last year, we hit the important milestone of 5 GW of installed