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offshore wind by 2030. I acknowledge the challenges in ramping up our offshore wind, but we already have excess capacity at peak times that cannot be used. If this were used, it could push energy prices down and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels further in terms

what is not, but the hard-pressed people of Ireland, faced with rising costs, need a little bit more help in terms of energy prices at the moment while also trying to move toward a more sustainable future. For many years, people in Ireland have been told that … juncture in terms of our energy self-sufficiency and our potential. What would get rid of our dependence on gas as the baseline? If we put the investment in, mass battery storage would be one element to store all the daytime wind, solar, tidal and wave, which

been taken away. It is no surprise arrears have surged. Our energy system is under serious pressure. Our grid is stretched. Our reliance on gas remains far too high and the delivery of offshore wind and renewables has been far too slow. That is not the fault … system as it stands. It is a major barrier to progress. The same disconnect applies when we talk about solar energy. Families are being told and encouraged to install solar panel and want to do so but the numbers simply do not stack up. For a typical household

associates Texas with fossil fuels but it also has nuclear, wind, solar and battery storage. It is doing all five to facilitate participation in AI and what it considers to be the revolution in AI and the energy implications of all of that. I would … long-term implications of this. Solar is an important source and we put our eggs in the renewable basket, particularly offshore wind. We have done very well on onshore wind over the past three decades. Ireland is a leader in European on onshore wind. The challenge

primary objective is to identify solutions that allow household, particularly those in energy poverty, to avail of low-cost surplus renewable energy. Third is the electricity storage policy framework. Following the publication of our battery storage framework, we are accelerating the deployment of long-duration storage and batteries … long-term storage solution for surplus wind and solar power. Fifth is the smart grid and demand response. Through the CRU and ESB Networks, we are expanding "Beat the Peak" initiatives and smart meter incentives, encouraging consumers and large energy users to shift their demand to times

grid to allow us to be self-sufficient and self-reliant in energy and have EVs powered solely by Ireland. We have done nothing about tidal or wave power. We are gradually getting towards offshore wind power and have done very little about solar power either

opportunity to grow our economy and our society and potentially become an energy exporter. We are not 100 years away from that at all. We are looking at having the first of the offshore renewable wind farms up and running, potentially by the end of the decade

that we need to bring our energy system back into public ownership and run it on a not-for-profit basis to provide permanently low-cost, renewable electricity to every household in the country. We need massive public investment in offshore wind and solar. We need free retrofitting … there is nothing in the motion about the data centres that are currently using about a quarter of our electricity and driving up energy costs for everyone. The Government wants to build even more. It wants to pretend they will somehow save the tech jobs in Meta, Covalen

year. That is significant. With the warmer homes scheme, which is 100% grant-aided for low-income families and those at risk of energy poverty, we have managed to retrofit 34,000 homes and are targeting 12,000 this year alone. These are very targeted measures, most … crises, but what is really within our grasp is that acceleration of the delivery of additional renewables into our system, including more onshore wind and solar. In only 11 years, we have gone from 2 MW of solar integrated into our grid to 2,553 MW being integrated

Government, will the Minister provide an update on when the solar energy guidelines will be published and commenced? Will we see guidelines this year, or will they be put on the long finger, as the wind guidelines were? Does she accept that clear planning guidance is required urgently

grid and investment prices right. Cheap, abundant renewable energy is the single best industrial policy, climate policy and cost-of-living policy we can pursue as a country. That means acting in the common good. Communities that host wind farms or live beside data centres, especially large ones … this right, Ireland can move from being a price-taker at the end of a gas pipeline to being a clean energy powerhouse, cutting bills and emissions and strengthening our energy sovereignty. I thank the Minister of State and acknowledge his work since taking office. I encourage

cars, unfortunately, is like its record on offshore wind, which one Minister described as previous Government members sitting on their hands. They are also sitting on their hands in respect of all the renewable energies. We need relief now. Workers and families need relief. Here are the steps

here and say the barriers are the planning process, the climate Act and this and that, but when we meet the renewable energy organisations, the first thing they all say is there are not enough staff in An Coimisiún Pleanála and that its decision-making time has increased … bodies in industry representing wind, solar and battery storage all say it to us, and I have no doubt they are saying it to the Minister in his electricity task force. I have no doubt that when the Minister was meeting with the energy storage groups today, they

renewable energy by 2030 and we are currently nowhere near that. I do not think anyone looking at it could possibly expect that we will ever reach it, in light of the way it is happening at the moment. We need offshore and onshore wind turbine projects started … provide the services when we do get that far. We have huge problems in respect of our infrastructure. We are reliant on importing energy as the Government fails to develop our own energy independence. This has resulted in Ireland's consumers paying the highest energy prices

their energy efficiency. The 2026 allocation for these schemes amounts to more than €40 million. The Government has also introduced measures to reduce energy costs and unlock greater decarbonisation of Irish industry and enterprise over the medium term. For example, under the national development plan the Government … capital investment plans of over €18.9 billion in the coming five years. The increased deployment of indigenous renewables, such as onshore and offshore wind and solar generation, will help to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and the associated price volatility. We are also supporting further interconnection with

worried. The ongoing war in Iran is having real and serious consequences for households and businesses across the country and the pressures of energy costs, fuel costs and supply chains are being felt everywhere. It would be wrong to pretend otherwise. I welcome the Government's €750 million … support it. The case for accelerating offshore wind development has never been stronger. We need to move quickly and with urgency. I am on record in this House as saying I felt that the previous Minister with responsibility for energy did not treat energy security or, indeed, expanding

winter. I welcome the Taoiseach's comments on improving energy security in this State, particularly in regard to progressing the LNG facility. This is an issue alongside the need for the widespread roll-out of solar and wind generation that I have raised on multiple occasions in this

countries in Europe with the highest electricity bills despite these massive resources at our disposal. We should be leading in terms of clean energy. We should not be a laggard on it. Successive Fianna Fáil- and Fine Gael-led Governments have had the resources to be able … enough wind to power the island and enough money to make it happen. That is a fact. What we are missing is the political leadership to get that job done. While Spain and Portugal have insulated their people from this global crisis in terms of energy prices

budget and introduce a windfall tax on the energy profits of big companies, ensure that we have a real retrofitting revolution, ensure that households receive supports to fund the rollout of solar panels and ensure that we see wind power being generated at pace, instead of slowly

those groups, with fixed tariffs for solar and wind. All export projects up to 1 MW can also apply to SRESS, and need not be community, SME or farmer-owned projects. To further support communities, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, provides a range of supports

cheaper to heat her home or to commute to work or school. It has put a pittance on the budget for Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, retrofits and taken only €43 off the €1,500 cost of a home heating oil refill. The freezing of funding … wind off our coasts and a talented, educated population. This means that the Government could have invested to lower bills, decarbonise the economy and improve living standards for all. It could have imposed a windfall tax on the companies and data centres that were profiteering during this energy

make energy cheaper in this country if we continue to rely on fossil fuels and just keep chasing the price by reducing excise duty and carbon taxes. What we need is a radical approach, a revolution of renewables. That means doing the necessary on offshore wind, realising that … scrappage scheme to ensure the electric vehicle revolution we need. As others have said, we also need the reintroduction of targeted energy credits in the next budget to ensure that heating our homes and businesses is more affordable in the interim, as we make that move to renewables

fold increase over the spend on the scheme in 2020 and underlines the Government's commitment to supporting households with their energy costs; — the Government is committed to continuing with the planned carbon tax increases, aligning with recommendations from the Climate Change Advisory Council and scientific experts … least 5 GW of offshore wind capacity connected to the grid in order to meet the requirement of 80 per cent of electricity demand supplied by renewables; — the Public Services Obligation (PSO) levy funds Ireland's renewable electricity support schemes, the Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff

Government not ashamed that the one offshore wind farm we have is currently being dismantled? That is the Government's level of delivery of offshore renewables. In other countries that have invested, it has brought down people's energy bills. What is the Minister doing about

last energy crisis that Ireland ever experiences. Let the response to this crisis be more than just being about getting the blockades lifted. I want to highlight measures across three broad areas. First, the Government needs to speed up the delivery of offshore wind farms that were successfully … Coimisiún Pleanála and the Marine Regulatory Authority need additional expert staff so they can more quickly decide on planning applications for offshore wind. The Government also needs to speed up the investment and development of our ports. Right now, Belfast is the only port that could sustain