Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 May 2026
176. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to consider issues raised in correspondence (details supplied); the current and future plans to make Ireland more energy resilient; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33922/26]
View answerRecent geopolitical events have shown that the best way to protect electricity consumers, protect our economy, and deliver a more stable and secure energy future is to increase our renewable electricity capacity. Countries with a greater share of renewables are better protected from the impact of volatility in the international fossil fuel markets.
We are seeing that here with recent high renewables limiting the impact of gas price increases on electricity prices and with an ESRI report published recently highlighting how our renewable generation increasingly acts as a hedge against higher wholesale electricity prices.
Ireland has reached a milestone of 8 GW of onshore renewable electricity generation, an increase of 5 GW since 2015. Onshore wind now stands at over 5 GW, a doubling since 2015. Provisional figures from EirGrid show that in 2025 nearly 41% of electricity grid demand was met with renewables, with that figure jumping to nearly 50% in both February and March this year.
Communities throughout the country support and are benefiting from renewable electricity projects, through investment and employment in local economies, the paying of commercial rates to Local Authorities, and Community Benefit Funds supporting sustainable community initiatives.
As a number of the topics raised are outside of the scope of the Department of Climate, Energy, and the Environment, I will ask my Government colleagues to respond directly to the Deputy on the other topics raised.
