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potential to achieve genuine energy sovereignty and, crucially, we have the potential to do so from clean sources. The Minister of State could have brought forward a Bill that would inject much-needed urgency into the deployment of renewables, particularly offshore wind. He could have brought forward … Bill to speed up the necessary works that need to be done on our ports so they can handle offshore wind turbines, or he could have prioritised the long-awaited marine protected areas legislation to ensure the necessary environmental safeguards are in place. He would certainly have

like many European countries, in relation to energy prices. We need to reduce them further. How are we going to do that? We are going to do that expanding renewables. We are doing well on renewables in solar and in wind. It will also be done on delivering

Noel McCarthy asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the proposed timeline for auctions for the delivery of the three other sites identified in the designated maritime area plan, which are not included in the Tonn Nua offshore wind auction; and if he will make

driving directly into energy prices and supply chains. People are facing the consequences of that in the form of cost-of-living increases. Energy is right at the centre of that. The Council has acknowledged as much. When fossil fuel prices spike, Europe suffers. We remain … offshore wind deployment, create jobs and anchor long-term economic activity in the region. Potential does not deliver jobs, however; decisions supported by Government and made in this House do. I have huge ambition for this country. We can be a global leader in renewable energy, not just

flounder. The credit papered over the cracks. The Government was throwing cash at a problem, never asking why we have the second highest energy costs in Europe, or why we have a regulator that routinely nods through savage price rises and fails miserably to honour its consumer protection … take a State-led approach like the Labour Party would in strategically investing €1 billion to make our moonshot moment in offshore wind a reality, weaning us off imported gas, which would be good for consumers and good for climate. With families and small businesses reeling from unaffordable

auctions have happened for offshore wind generation, as the Deputy is aware. They are working their way through their respective development processes. What we are trying to do is to accelerate that so we can deliver greater offshore renewable energy. Part of the problem with bringing people with

very healthy profits. Just last week, when another price rise was announced, I called on the Minister to ensure that the State-owned energy company, Electric Ireland, did not follow the private operators and increase its prices. I repeat that call today. To its credit, Electric Ireland … offshore wind farms. Just get it done. People are hurting. The Government must heed the calls in our motion to give people support in the short term and focus its attention on the resources we actually have, not fantasise about new energy sources when we have not built

approximately 13% of the country's wind-generated electricity was wasted because the grid was not strong enough to carry all the power being produced. Over €1 million per day is paid back in curtailment payments. The amount of wasted renewable energy in the 13 months leading

Ireland's transition to a low-carbon, climate resilient and sustainable future: a future in which we take full advantage of the renewable energy potential that we possess. It also oversees implementation of the climate action plan. The committee meets quarterly. The first meeting took place … second offshore wind auction; the installation of solar panels in more than 1,000 schools; the establishment of a national certification-accreditation system for eco-driving courses in the haulage sector; the publication of an electricity demand-side strategy; and the incentivisation of large energy users to participate

that the Department of energy and climate is working on the noise aspect. The speed at which this is dealt with is vital. Right now, there is a gold rush and a race to get planning applications through for these wind farms. I am speaking on behalf

Irish people. This Bill will hike up household bills. The estimated €60 million annual running costs will be socialised through a levy on energy bills. Ordinary workers and families are already struggling with the cost of living, and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael want … this position because this Government has failed to develop our indigenous renewable resources. Ireland has 640 GW of untapped offshore wind potential. How much of it has been delivered? The answer is zero. We actually have less now than we had 20 years ago, such is the level

fronts, like onshore wind, offshore wind, electric vehicles, district heating and the use of biomethane, not to mention the impact of the new LNG fossil fuel terminals the Government is promoting and the data centres that are not required to use renewable energy. We are told

green energy revolution, which is vital for the west and south west of the country. Our incredible 640 GW of potential for renewables is going to slip through our fingers. After 14 years in government, it is incredible that we still have no offshore wind or even planning … vision includes significant supply-side investment in accessible and affordable schemes, expanding public, community and domestic ownership of renewables and reform of our energy market, one in which the burden of transition is distributed more equitably, not to a corporate buyout. If people are being mandated to make

week, even if offshore wind projects make it through the planning process in the next couple of years, we are still way off actually building them because our ports are not ready for them, nor is our grid ready to take the energy being generated offshore. That

with various Ministers attending. I attended one recently with the Deputy. The Bord na Móna land resource has very significant potential for both energy renewables and industry to go along with that. We will do everything we possibly can to capitalise on that for the benefit … onshore renewable wind and solar is moving fast. The key challenge for us over the next number of years is offshore renewables, and then to work with the European Union on whether there are ways to deal with the regulatory framework governing the setting of energy prices

first offshore wind farms before 2030. That would take pressure off the onshore sector because there has been significant onshore development in Ireland, which is making a huge contribution to electricity generation. Ireland is under a lot of pressure on the energy question

have a couple of points on what the Minister said. As part of our pre-legislative scrutiny, we looked at the energy security review that this is all based on. The review was conducted a number of years ago. The international situation has changed markedly since that review … reserve versus a battery, whereas it does not seem to have looked at this strategic LNG reserve versus batteries, interconnectors and wind, or whatever, in a mix like that. We had asked at pre-legislative scrutiny for that to be reviewed prior to this Bill being put forward

have calls for energy credits, and not because energy credits are a solution but because they can be done here and now. Energy credits were only ever meant to be a stop-gap measure that would provide the time and place for the Government to deal with … given to the CRU and for us to ensure we are not wedded to through-the-roof gas prices. Everyone here talks about wind power and how we would love this country to become, as we used to say, the Saudi Arabia of wind power. However, we have

under the renewable energy support scheme. The current €2 per MW/h is too diluted. There are too many small pots, too many committees and too little impact. The more infrastructure, the more complex it becomes when there is an overlap of a cluster of wind farms, in particular

transport and energy infrastructure while also cutting emissions. As our Labour Party climate spokesperson, Ciarán Ahern TD, has pointed out, other countries are doing this. The Government is doing neither at the scale required. Ireland’s infrastructure deficit is our single biggest economic challenge. Offshore wind is delayed

about focusing on this specifically. This gives us the opportunity to seek other ways. As someone who was a CFO of a solar energy company, I know the benefits of renewables. I would be the first to say that renewables are the way forward. I would put them … every roof in the country if I could. It is important to push for that, as well as ensuring we have offshore wind infrastructure. Those are important to do. In response to Deputy Ahern, no one on this side of the House is losing that focus

months and cannot see any way out of it. Today, 1 July, bills are going up again. Electric Ireland, the State's largest energy provider, is putting up its prices, which means average households will pay an extra €138 on their bills. Some 1.1 million customers will … incredibly large amount of money and we can see why people find it so difficult to make do. All the while, there are wind turbines all over the country being switched off at night or when there are constraints on the grid because the grid cannot take

form of wind. I have not seen any adequate speed-up or streamlining of the system to improve this. We do this at a time when we have seen multiple reasons to do it on the basis of, obviously, improving the environment, even from an energy security point

energy sources. I have no problem in relation to having conversations on whatever technology. I would find it very difficult to talk about nuclear power without dealing with the issues of nuclear waste and talking about Chernobyl and Sellafield. However, we should be a wind power superpower

generating energy in a sustainable way and I am ambitious for what we can do. I believe we can be a leader and part of that is infrastructure, capacity on the grids, storage capacity, but also capital infrastructure that is needed to maintain the offshore wind farms. Greenore