Vol. 1090 No. 5
Ar dtús báire, ba mhaith liom cúpla focal a rá faoin Teachta Michael Healy-Rae.
Danny, as you are here in the Chamber, I just want to pass on my best regards to your brother and to condemn outright what happened yesterday in Dublin. I am very sorry for him, for yourself and for your family. I wish him a speedy recovery. He is a tough guy and I know he will get through it. This should not happen. It should never have happened. I just wanted to say that to you.
Thank you, Minister.
1. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he will report on the demands data centres place on Ireland’s critical infrastructure and the plans to increase this demand; if he is satisfied with our infrastructure’s ability to withstand this increased demand; the way in which this will be paid for; the contributions data centres have made to finance existing and increased demand; his views on whether access to this infrastructure should operate on a first come, first served model; and if he will make a statement on the mater. [65942/26]
This question is about data centres and the demands being placed on the grid. We introduced a Bill yesterday about the prioritisation network. Can the infrastructure that we have withstand the increased demand coming from data centres? Will the Minister accept that public infrastructure should be given priority for housing, water connections and electricity to deal with the scarce grid capacity ahead of the new data centre developments?
Ireland's industrial electricity demand is primarily concentrated in our digital economy. This is our core energy-intensive industry. Data centres are fundamental to Ireland's position as a leading global hub for digital and technology-driven enterprise. They form a critical part of the State's digital infrastructure, supporting activities including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, financial services and public sector digital services. Their economic footprint is substantial with €104 billion in gross value added - that is about 20% of Ireland's economy - enabled by data centre-dependent sectors. Approximately 183,000 people are working in Ireland's technology sector with around 19,000 jobs directly in the data centre industry.
While Ireland has attracted some of the best data centre and tech companies in the world, the integration of large-scale demand on our grid must be facilitated in a sustainable way. The Government's large energy user action plan, LEAP, will progress a plan-led approach for future energy-intensive industry which will unlock investment and innovation in Ireland's renewable energy sector, maximise wider benefits in jobs and skills across Ireland's regions and ensure that the cost of developing additional infrastructure is borne in a manner that is fair. This is being reinforced by unprecedented grid investment of up to €18.9 billion, and that is beneficial to our whole economy and to our society.
Alongside LEAP, the CRU large energy user connection policy establishes a sustainable connection pathway for new data centres that manages demand by requiring generation and system support, addressing security of electricity supply and network constraint considerations, and promoting Ireland's renewable energy ambitions by bringing 80% of new energy demand for any new data centre connection through renewable sources.
I thank the Minister for the reply. I note what he says about the economic footprint and the necessity for a plan-led approach. I will come back to that in some of my later questions. However, we have had and continue to have a first-come, first-served, laissez-faire attitude, and some larger energy users have been facilitated in hoarding connections that they have. Some housing developments, like the one in the midlands, that have tried to get connections have been put behind data centres. A significant proportion of the connection queue consists of speculative applications, and communities and other connections have been left behind. The European Commission last December said we need strategic prioritisation of scarce grid capacity. Will the Minister move away from the first-come, first-served attitude?
We have to manage the demand that is there. Ireland's demand will grow and will double between now and 2050. That is why the grid investment programme is so important, and that we improve the resilience, distribution and capacity of our grid.
To get to the kernel of the Deputy's question, no housing development has not been connected because of a data centre. PR6, which is our investment programme, outlines all the various things we need to do across the economy and society, that is, the 300,000 new homes we need to build, industrial growth, economic growth and infrastructural projects like MetroLink that we announced yesterday. That will require further electricity demand. We want to drive that through renewables. About 50% of our electricity so far this year has been generated through clean renewable sources. We have doubled our wind capacity in ten years and solar is a major part of our energy mix now as well. That said, however, large energy user demand has to be managed in a planned way and that is what the LEAP does. The large energy user, LEU, final decision from CRU ensures that happens.
A lot of this comes from the admission by CRU that it could not have a prioritisation and had to deal with it on a first-come, first-served basis. At this time, when there are soaring energy bills and businesses are struggling with costs, we see that there are new proposals to give data centres access to cut-price gas infrastructure. The public cannot understand how the Government could justify asking ordinary families to pay more and more for electricity, heating and energy prices while facilitating further subsidies to and preferential treatment of some of the wealthiest and the largest corporate energy users in the whole State. For years we know that ordinary households and small businesses have been shouldering a disproportionate amount of energy taxation, network charges and energy costs, but at the same time the cost associated with expanding and reinforcing infrastructure for large energy users continues to grow. We see the amount of energy in the Dublin area, for example, that the large data centres are taking up. All we are calling for is fairness between the ordinary people who are struggling with their energy bills and the large corporate energy users.
I did make reference to the Bill that Sinn Féin published yesterday. As with any Bill, from wherever in the House it comes, be that Opposition or Government, I will look at it and do so in a positive way.
The network charges are set by CRU. From 2020 to 2026, the data centre sector saw an average increase of 175% in network costs. I do not set the network charges; that is just the reality. There is, though, an overall issue of affordability, which I know we will get to during the course of the morning, whereby we see elevated prices right the way across the developed world, including here in Ireland. That is where the work of the national energy affordability task force, which will conclude soon and report to me, is very important. We have to do our best to soften the blow of increases, particularly for households and small businesses, but how we get to a sustainable way of doing so is by accelerating renewable delivery and delivering the infrastructure projects we need, like the North-South interconnector.
Bogfaimid ar aghaidh go dtí an chéad cheist eile a bhfuil Teachta i láthair di, Ceist Uimh. 3. Tá sí ceangailte le Ceist Uimh. 6.
Céard faoi Ceist Uimh. 2?
Tá an Teachta as láthair.
Níl sí anseo.
3. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he will report on the recent energy price hikes; the measures he is taking to address this; if he will reintroduce an electricity credit in budget 2027; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65939/26]
6. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to discuss energy costs. [66297/26]
It is interesting that the Minister mentioned the task force because I wanted to speak to him about the recent energy price hikes and what resources he is taking to address those. What will the budget say? Will there be an energy credit? Will the Minister commit that there will be no carbon tax increases? What other supports will be available for households facing soaring heating costs this winter?
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 6 together.
I cannot announce the budget yet but I understand that energy will be an important part of it.
To deal with both the questions, we know the situation in the Middle East. That is having a serious impact on prices. That follows from the continuing illegal war in Ukraine, which has caused significant disruption to energy markets. I and the Government fully recognise the pressures the resulting high prices are placing on Irish consumers and businesses. We have introduced a series of measures to reduce fuel prices and further measures are under consideration through the energy affordability task force and as part of the budgetary process.
Specifically on fuel, the package of Government support measures, which now totals over €1.4 billion and which is the largest per capita in the European Union, is helping to reduce the cost burden at the petrol pump and diesel pump and assists key sectors such as agriculture, haulage and the productive sectors that are critical to keeping our economy moving.
A range of measures in budget 2026 also supported households, including the reduction of VAT on electricity and gas to 9% right the way through to 2030; enhanced social protection payments, in particular the extension of the fuel allowance payment to those in receipt of the working family payment, that is, about 468,000 households; and the €400 income tax disregard for households involved in microgeneration.
Very importantly, there has been a record allocation of over €640 million for residential and community grant schemes through the SEAI, allowing us to target 73,000 households this year. Why is that really important? It is because when we retrofit homes and businesses, we bring about permanent savings for those households and businesses.
I amended the grants earlier this year. We have seen a really significant increase in the number of applications. In some areas they have doubled because we have broken them down. You do not have to do just one deep retrofit. We brought in windows and doors grants, wall cavity and attic insulation grants and a heat pump grant of €12,500. To the end of August, we got 89,000 applications. That is more than in all of last year, so people are responding to the supports that are there. It is important from a climate perspective that we are reducing energy consumption and emissions from households and businesses, but critically it is decreasing costs. As far as we can estimate, a home retrofit can lead to savings of between €750 and €1,120 per annum on energy costs. These are real measures. If anything, during the course of the budget I want to accelerate that and look at other areas we can help through permanent changes.
Other areas are under consideration in advance of the budget. The national energy affordability task force, NEAT, will feed into that, and we are in the middle of budget discussions right now. A big focus will be on continuing and accelerating the retrofitting programme. We have done approximately 287,000 homes and approximately €2 billion has been invested there since 2019. That is an area where we need to refocus our efforts and accelerate delivery. There are those who are struggling with energy. While the 90 days arrears figures have plateaued, they are still a concern. I will say to people that if they are in arrears they should ensure they engage with their energy providers and enter into repayment arrangements. No one who is engaging with energy companies will be cut off. We will have protections during the course of the winter. Our disconnection rates are absolutely miniscule, and rightly so. However, we have to continue doing everything we can to work to soften the blow of increases we are seeing right the way across the world and the European Union.
The Minister mentioned some of the schemes like retrofitting and heat pumps. Does he accept that he is way behind on his targets? There is a crowd called Centrica, which, when the State sold off the family silver 15 years ago, bought Bord Gáis Energy. Centrica made a profit of only €814 million last year, which was way down from €1.55 billion the year before. Its energy section, Bord Gáis Energy, made profits of €72.5 million. They are the ones increasing their bills. We know all about the geopolitical conflict and all of that, but the Government has the resources to make extra direct commitments to people who are struggling, such as not increasing, or removing, the carbon tax on home heating oil in particular and dealing with other energy credits. With the windfall profits they are making, there should be extra charges and an extra tax on those windfall profits.
I want to talk about the price of green diesel. It has gone up to €1.60. There is no package in place for construction works vehicles, even though the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach promised it in early May and the Taoiseach reiterated it where the Minister is sitting now. He said that construction vehicles would be included. They are involved in construction of houses and roads and everything. The vehicles involved include rollers, diggers, graders, dumpers and teleporters. None of those vehicles have been included even though the promise was made. The Minister mentioned it himself. They have not been included. Since 1 September, farmers have been left hanging. That is why I did not vote for what the Government proposed in this Chamber on 28 August. Farmers and agricultural contractors were not included on 28 August. The Government has €100 million left over after some scheme. Where is that now? Who has it? Are they going to spend it and give it out? People have parked bigger machinery because they cannot afford to run it. That is going to have a detrimental effect.
I turn first to Deputy Daly and the area of potential windfall taxes on energy companies. That is something being discussed at EU-wide level. It was discussed in Brussels when I was there earlier this month. If there is an approach on that it will probably be a pan-European approach. The Taoiseach referred to it yesterday. The last time, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, approximately €200 million was collected. It is not going to move the dial on energy bills, but it might give the State more in its armoury to make permanent changes to households such as acceleration of solar and things we are doing already.
I turn to Deputy Healy-Rae. I will answer the other one, but the scheme I am responsible for is the road transport support scheme, which is for the hauliers. There were more than 4,000 applications. More than 3,000 have been paid out already. We are working through the rest of them and there will be an appeals process once that scheme closes. Agricultural contractors were included in the original scheme managed by the Department and the Minister for agriculture. However, the Deputy is correct to say that the Government did agree on a scheme in relation to construction vehicles. That is being worked through at the moment. Again, that does not fall directly under my remit but as a member of Government, it is a Government decision that has been made. What we have been and are working to now over the coming few weeks are the measures we can take in the budget. One is about permanent changes and the second is on supports and what can be done there. We have to focus it on those who need it most. More than a quarter of Irish households receive direct fuel support payments. It is unquestionably a difficult time across the world with regard to elevated prices. We will do our best, but we are not going to be able to deal with every single cost increase.
For the last part of this I want to focus on home heating oil. As the Minister knows, the prices for home heating oil have surged by approximately 60% over the past year. It particularly affects people in rural areas and people in older houses. A lot of those people have not had the resources or the funds to pay for solar upfront or to pay for retrofitting. They feel excluded from this scheme. People in those families need relief, which means reducing or removing the carbon tax on this home heating oil and reintroducing the energy credits worth at least €400 per household. They are the fairest approach. Everybody can benefit from it. Will the Minister commit to looking at that in the budget and making some real difference to the people living in fuel poverty?
Maybe that is what is wrong. If the Minister is not responsible for the construction industry, and Martin Heydon certainly is not because he is the Minister for agriculture, maybe that is where the problem lies. The facts are that the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach promised that construction and the vehicles involved in construction would be covered. Many of those construction companies were locked into prices they had for jobs at the start of the year and locked into contracts. The Tánaiste even mentioned quarries and processing materials. None of those people have got one bob yet. I am asking in the name of God - does the Minister think these people can carry on in the wind?
Green diesel has gone from 90 cent last January up to €1.68 yesterday. Everything I know is using green diesel. The Government has seen after the haulage, but I have to say that is the tax that they have paid. The Government did not find it anywhere else. It came from them and the Government is only giving it back to those people. It is the same with the people who are paying for green diesel. The Government will have to do something for them. Every machine involved in civil works, maintenance of roads and maintenance of waterworks is using green diesel and they have got nothing. How long more is it going to take to develop a scheme for them?
First, we recognise that €1.4 billion of supports have been brought in already. I do not think anyone will dispute that.
I am going to get to it. We have to put it in context. That is not a small amount of money. That is a major support and marked diesel was included in that in the context of the excise reductions.
It was 3 cent.
Actually, when you look at it overall it is approximately 7 cent per litre. In fairness, the question put by the Deputy relates to progress with the establishment of the scheme for construction contractors that are not covered under the other two schemes.
On foot of the Deputy raising this, I will make urgent inquiries with regard to the progress on that scheme. We provided significant moneys to the haulage sector, and rightly so. I was at the Irish Road Haulage Association's conference in Killarney in the Deputy's county the week before last and addressed about 900 delegates there. They are very important to our society and economy, as are construction contractors.
To get back to Deputy Daly's question, home heating oil is an area where we have seen significant increases. We have stated already that, in particular, there is a reliance in rural Ireland - not exclusively but the majority is in rural Ireland - on home heating oil. We are very aware of the substantial increases in that space. I, the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach are working on proposals around that. We will work through that between now and the budget. The provisions that will be in the budget will be announced on budget day. We have not concluded the work on that. Suffice to say we are acutely aware of the issue around home heating oil and, as I mentioned already, the issue around accelerating the deployment of further grants to make permanent changes to households and businesses.
2. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he will commission a report into the number of data centres the Irish energy grid and water networks can handle. [65223/26]
My question is very simple. Will the Minister commission a report into the number of data centres the Irish energy grid and water networks can handle? It is incredible we are in 2026 still asking for a simple report on the capacity of the energy and water systems to handle the huge increase in data centres over the past ten years.
I answered Deputy Daly in detail earlier on the importance of ICT to the Irish economy. I want to put that in context. We have about 190,000 people working in the ICT sector, underpinned by data centres. It is an important part of our digital infrastructure and it is part of our large industrial energy use. It has to be managed appropriately.
EirGird, as transmission system operator, is responsible for the operation and planning of the electricity transmission system. EirGrid balances supply and demand continually while also planning for Ireland’s long-term electricity needs. Ireland has attracted some of the best tech companies in the world and some of the best data centres in the world. When considering their impact, we need to weigh wider economic benefits, including tax revenues, employment, broader digital infrastructure value and significant support and linkages provided to other high-value sectors of the economy. The Government and I recognise the need to balance those opportunities with the challenges being faced and we continue to work with the sector towards a secure and decarbonised energy future. The large energy user action plan, LEAP, which we published in January of this year, sets out a plan-led approach to planning to sustainable new energy intensive industrial developments. That is critical. Through LEAP, a range of large energy user development scenarios, including spatial considerations, will be assessed to inform policy choices going forward and to support a more integrated approach to a plan-led energy system across the system operators, the regulator and Government. Water usage management and conservation across commercial and industrial - that is, non-domestic - sectors, including data centres, is under the remit of Uisce Éireann. Uisce Éireann has advised that, overall, data centres are not a major driver of demand on the public water supply network. It is my understanding that they account for, on average, less than 0.3% of the water supplied by Uisce Éireann.
We have seen incredible growth in data centres. In 2015, 5% of our electricity use was by data centres. It is now 23%, is projected to grow to 30% in the coming years and will continue to grow even further than that. I know the Minister's and Government's argument for the red carpet being rolled out for data centres relates to the economic benefits they bring. However, the report the Government came out with in relation to that was essentially a work of fiction. The Minister talks about how many people work in the ICT sector here and says that is why we need so many data centres. That also is fiction because Sweden has the highest proportion of its workforce working in the ICT sector at 9%, yet only 3% to 4% of its electricity use is by data centres. Ireland has 6% of its workforce in ICT, which is significant and I am not understating it, but it does not mean we have to allocate 23% of our electricity use to that sector. Where is the comparability with what is happening in Europe? We are way off the scale with data centres.
First and foremost, there is no red carpet being rolled out. The Deputy has acknowledged, to be fair, the significant employment underpinned by ICT in this country - high-paid jobs, good jobs and careers paths for many of our people. Ireland is at the leading edge of new technologies and we want to remain in that place. That said, we have to manage demand and supply. That is why the grid investment programme is critical. We have to get ahead of demand projections, and we will do that through renewables. The LEAP and the large energy user decision published by CRU are critical because any new connection will only be provided to a data centre or large user in that space who brings forward 80% of the energy through additional, renewable sources. That will be managed in a plan-led way. We published that earlier this year. That is the policy. It is not that anyone who applies to be connected gets connected. That is not the way it is done. That has been changed.
The LEAP would enable, potentially, 50% of our electricity to go to data centres in the coming years. While the Minister said 80% has to come from renewables, there is a six-year path to that happening. In those six years, they can be based on gas. Data centres are pushing up our energy prices, they are making our grid unstable and they will make it impossible to meet our climate targets, which should be a concern to the Minister. That risks us having to pay €28 billion in fines. There is no point in the Minister shaking his head. That is what will happen unless the Minister knows something different. Has he been told by Europe those fines will not be imposed on countries that have not met their targets? We have to work on the assumption there is a €28 billion fine coming our way in 2030. The Minister is playing chicken with the EU on this. If it makes us pay it, we will be in serious trouble.
The charge that the grid is unstable is incorrect. It is not. We have to be responsible in what we say in that regard.
We have had a series of brown-outs over the past number of years.
It might suit a certain political narrative of large energy users and big corporations against everyone else, eating up all our energy. That might play well on social media. There is a reality to managing economic growth. Why do we want to manage economic growth? For the good of our people, for jobs, for people's livelihoods, so they can pay their mortgages, so they can live well - that is why. This is part of our industrial policy. The LEAP sets out how that is done in a plan-led way. It is not a question of anyone rocking up and, as the Deputy puts it, a red carpet is put out. That is not true. That does not happen. I take it the Social Democrats want to see continued investment in our country. Maybe they do not but we do. We have to accelerate the delivery of grid infrastructure, which we are doing through PR 6. That will enable us to get ahead of demand projections. That is the reality. There is no cost of compliance agreed with the EU and no formula. None of that is agreed. Anyone bandying around figures of €20 billion or €28 billion is just incorrect.
4. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment in light of recent reporting on data centre energy consumption, water use, carbon emissions and their impact on household energy bills, if he is confident in the Government’s current strategy and if he is proposing any changes to it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65969/26]
The Deputy should maybe replay my answer to the last four questions but I understand why this is an area of interest.
I thank him for tabling this question.
Our industrial electricity demand is primarily concentrated in our digital economy. I say this because we are not a large industrial nation. We do not make trains or cars. We do not have heavy industry here. Our heavy industry is ICT. Other countries in Europe have large heavy industrial bases and use energy for these. Part of our competitiveness as a country, and our attractiveness, is because of the expertise of our people and the digital economy. A critical part of supporting jobs in the economy and future growth is supporting activities such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and financial services, right down to public sector digital services.
The economic footprint that the ICT sector brings, which I mentioned earlier, and I am talking about ICT in general, is about €104 billion in gross added value. This is about 20% of Ireland's economy. It is significant but it has to be managed appropriately. The large energy user action plan is the way forward. We will always keep it under review. It is very clear now with regard to new connections that there have already been connection agreements. As mentioned earlier, about 23% of our energy is used by large data centres and large energy users. Going forward from the adoption of LEAP, it is very clear how new connection agreements would be granted. I do not grant them; they are granted independently of me, and rightly so. It all has to be balanced.
To answer the question directly, we published the policy and adhere to it. It is constantly kept under review. My big focus as energy and climate Minister is accelerating renewables, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and getting our bills down, while also ensuring that we can continue to attract indigenous investment and foreign direct investment.
It might be a bit tedious answering the same question three times but there is a reason that the first question asked by each of three Opposition climate spokespeople has been on data centres. It is because of the level of concern that exists in the Opposition. We see around the world that people are waking up to the impact that data centres are having in their communities, from energy use to water use. The Minister spoke about industrial strategy. We hear time and again that we have no heavy industry here and, therefore, we can have a big data centre industry but the Minister for agriculture uses the exact same argument. He used it on the radio the other day when trying to justify no changes to the status quo in the agriculture industry. We cannot have it both ways. Even in Germany, where there is heavy industry and a lot of jobs attached to it, it accounts for about 25% of the country's energy use. We are going to exceed 25% over the next few years given the trajectory. This is why we are concerned and we just want to make sure the Minister is staying on top of it.
Deputy Ahern is perfectly entitled to raise the issue. I welcome the fact it has been raised and note it has been raised by three of the Opposition parties. It is a matter that is appropriate for discussion. This is why, in fairness, when I came into this portfolio we looked at the situation and what existed before and moved forward with the large energy user action plan, which is a plan-led approach, looking at regions also. This is the appropriate way to do it. I mentioned to Deputy Daly earlier the PR 6 capital investment in the grid. This takes into account, over the next five- or six-year period, all of the growth that we need across various sectors. It also shows what we need to deliver infrastructurally, such as the north-south interconnector and the Celtic interconnector. It is a year late because of weather and other issues but it needs to be delivered. The acceleration of renewables is critical. In the first five or six months of this year, about 50% of our electricity was generated through renewables. It is certainly going in the right direction, with solar being a major part of our mix. Offshore will be the next critical part and we are expecting planning decisions over the course of the next few months to get these projects into construction between now and 2030. It will be a massive game-changer for the country.
Absolutely, and we are all focused on bringing through more renewable energy. Offshore wind is vital. Our issue on this side of the House is that the renewable energy we are creating at the moment is being gobbled up by data centres. We also know the impact this is having on energy bills. We also know how much water they use. I know it is a relatively small percentage but there is an unfairness at the heart of how they are treated, whereby ordinary people were asked to abide by a hosepipe ban this summer whereas data centres actually doubled their water consumption during that time. It is in situations like this that people feel the unfairness. They see they are not getting a fair shake. That is why we are bringing up the issue. We completely acknowledge the importance of underpinning jobs in the ICT sector but, on the other hand, we have to be concerned about some of the types of jobs these hyper-scale AI data centres are going to create and whether it is a good thing. We need to keep this under review. We spend half our time here talking about how we will regulate and rein in these big ICT companies while, on the other hand, we are doing everything we can to facilitate their continued growth. We have to watch this.
Any connection application made goes through an independent process and it can be accepted or declined. Not every connection application that is made is approved. That is a fact, and if we look at how many new data centres have been built or delivered in the past few years, there are very few. Someone referenced Sweden. If we look at Finland, it has received extremely large data centre investment, to the tune of about €20 billion. Obvious we have to step through what is appropriate and what can be managed and manage overall demand, while really focusing on expanding our grid capacity for everybody, for the good of jobs and our people and, very importantly, to ensure we have more renewables in our system to reduce bills. This is where the focus is at. Deputy Ahern is perfectly entitled to raise the matter.
With regard to AI regulation, it is a debate that is current and that will continue. It is important that it is done appropriately.
5. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the additional measures he is taking to address the fact that the EPA has said that emissions are falling "far too slowly" (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65909/26]
What additional measures is the Minister taking to address the fact the EPA recently stated emissions are falling far too slowly? Will he make a statement on the matter?
We are committed to supporting emissions reductions in the built environment sector across the economy. That is what Deputy Daly specifically asked in the question. We are taking action every day to implement climate mitigation measures, which also provide warmer and more comfortable homes and support energy affordability, energy security and energy sustainability for households and businesses.
The EPA's latest provisional greenhouse gas emissions inventory, published in July, shows the impact this work is having. Emissions fell in all main sectors in 2025 and emissions from buildings decreased by 4.7%. Overall emissions have fallen for a fourth consecutive year and they are at the lowest level they have been for 36 years. Emissions per capita are now at the lowest level since 1990. On foot of these record reductions, we are projected to achieve the first carbon budget and the sectoral emissions ceiling in the residential and public and commercial building sectors.
Looking forward, existing measures and additional measures are projected to improve. They will not get us to 50% by 2030 but the EPA projections to 2030 have improved across most sectors. This is a clear sign that we are making progress.
Very importantly, for four years we have been able to decouple economic growth from emissions growth. We are back to the 1990 emissions level but we have 1.5 million more people in the Republic, 1 million more homes and more than 1 million more cars. We need to accelerate this and try to bridge that gap. A big part of this, and Deputy Daly mentioned the built environment in particular, is made up of the grant schemes and the investment in retrofitting that I mentioned. There have been about 287,000 home upgrades.
We need to do more on the public built environment also. Some very good work is being done in our university sector and in hospitals and local authorities. It is our job to accelerate this. The next climate action plan, which I will publish well before the end of this year and intend to bring to Cabinet at the end of October, will cover this year and 2027. It will be a more focused plan and will identify strategic climate priorities that will shape our approach to closing the gap to 2030.
My question was on what additional measures the Minister will be taking. He knows that many people feel excluded. In my view, there is not a just transition because people cannot afford to get on a lot of these schemes. There is the risk of fines from Europe, of up to €28 billion, as has been said. The Minister also mentioned offshore wind.
I spoke with developers yesterday who told me it is unlikely that a turbine will be wet by 2035. We had a target of 5 GW. Clearly, that is not going to happen. Will there even be 1 GW in place by 2030?
We are way behind on solar energy too. The programme for Government outlined that there will be solar guidelines, but we are still waiting for them nearly one and a half years later. Developers, communities and people need to know and have clarity about what is going to be allowed into their community. Some of the solar developers work better than others. Some have better community engagement than others. Does the Minister have any views? Is he going to tell us when those guidelines will come in?
There were a number of supplementary questions there. The Deputy mentioned the accessibility of grants. That is what I changed earlier this year. We do not want to leave anybody behind. There are some questions later about the warmer homes scheme, which is the full 100% grant. We have done full deep retrofits, which are 100% grant-aided, for close to 40,000 homes for lower income families. That is really important. I changed the grants earlier this year to break them down and I brought in the windows and doors grant. Previously, people could not get these grants unless they did a deep retrofit. The combined grant is €4,800. I doubled the heat pump grant to €12,500. Wall, cavity and attic grants were all increased. These grants are all accessible. It is not necessary to do everything together. With certain BER ratings for homes, it is possible to get the windows and doors grant with only one additional measure, like attic additional insulation. We are seeing people respond to that. I gave a figure earlier of well over 80,000 grant applications.
I always keep this situation under review in respect of whether there are additional supports - not increased grants - we can bring in. That is paid for through the carbon tax, and this is why it is important that the tax is used to make permanent changes for households. I responded to the Deputy earlier in relation to home heating oil. We are looking at it in advance of the budget.
I am not going to speak too long about the carbon tax, except to say it does not work. It is also not ring-fenced.
It is ring-fenced.
The Government gives the impression it is completely ring-fenced, but it clearly is not.
Apart from committing not to have any more carbon tax increases, because people in poorer households are suffering much more than others because of the carbon tax, will the Minister consider solar energy guidelines? I ask him to answer this question because we have not got an answer to it yet. We see what is done in the Netherlands. It has a solar ladder that prioritises rooftop, followed by urban and industrial land, then brownfield sites and then agricultural land as a last resort. There is a more plan-led approach in Denmark, underpinned by strong local engagement, municipal-led site selection and a long tradition of community participation. Some of the solar companies work much better than others with their community engagement. I see that in the various developments happening around County Kerry, but guidelines are needed, as opposed to having communities depend on industry-led guidelines that the companies themselves operate to varying degrees.
On the planning guidelines, work is being done on them. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the lead on that process. Obviously, we feed into it.
I agree with the Deputy. Most companies in the development sector engage well with communities. After these questions conclude, I will be out in my own county, in Ballyboughal, for the opening of a very large solar farm up there. Solar energy is a very important clean resource. There are 3 GW of it in our energy system now. If we go back 11 years, there were approximately 2 MW. It has grown substantially. Households are responding as well. We have over 1 GW of rooftop solar energy installed and it is having a significant impact in reducing people's bills. I want us to do more on this. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Browne, over the next few days and seek an update on the progress being made with the solar PV guidelines.
Will they be in place by the end of the year?
I am not going to give the Deputy a date now, because I will have to talk to the Minister. We are feeding into that process. I ask the Deputy to let me get a timeframe that is realistic and I will come back to him directly.
