Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:64. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach his assessment and response to the NESC report, 'Connecting People to the Energy Transition'. [5897/26]
View answerTuesday, 10 February 2026
Questions (64)
Written answers
The National Economic and Social Council (NESC) advises me on strategic policy issues relating to sustainable economic, social, and environmental development in Ireland.
The NESC Report - Connecting People to the Energy Transition – was published and submitted to Government last August.
It examines how households can share in the economic, environmental and well-being benefits of the energy transition while protecting the most vulnerable from negative impacts.
In the report NESC outlines five areas of action:
Energy Affordability, Energy Poverty, Monitoring and Targeting;
Scaling Energy Efficiency and Clean Heat;
Helping Households Reap Electricity Benefits;
Place-Based Energy Resilience and Local Production; and
Strengthening Energy Connections.
The Council concludes that households and communities can potentially play a very significant and immediate role in making energy savings, generating renewable energy, and building energy resilience if enabled to do so.
Government is committed to building Ireland’s energy resilience and ending energy poverty:
• We are working at speed to rollout more renewable energy infrastructure (onshore and offshore wind and solar). This is already helping to bring down the cost of electricity and is the long-term solution to high energy bills.
• We are making it easier for people to improve their energy efficiency and produce their own energy with a range of grants to install solar PV on homes, businesses and farms, with Budget 2026 providing a record capital allocation of €558 million for SEAI residential and community energy upgrade schemes
• And, we have established the National Energy Affordability Taskforce to identify, assess and implement measures that will enhance energy affordability for households and businesses while delivering key renewable commitments and protecting security of supply and economic stability.