Mr. Michael McCarthy:

The current restriction is 0.5 MW. The association has asked for a 2 MW exemption. The principle is important in the sense that the planning permission is a necessary part of a robust planning system. The ask from the industry in terms of a request to increase the exemption to 2 MW is reasonable. The exemption was brought in at a time when we were dealing with solar thermal, which is a much heavier panel. We met the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, during the summer. The focus of the Department at that time was on the wind energy guidelines, in respect of which the Minister made an announcement at the beginning of this week. The Department has since committed to examining the proposed ISEA planning permission and we expect some movement on that this side of Christmas.

The point in terms of rooftop space is important. We can lead the way in Ireland in terms of decarbonisation. The State can do that by way of the Department of Education and Skills in terms of school rooftops and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine in terms of the roof space on farms. The blockage to this is the lack of an export tariff. Nobody is going to introduce a system if what is unused must go back into it. There is a particular issue around ESB Networks and the export tariff. This industry deals with a number of organs of the State, including the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, the CRU, ESB Networks, EirGrid and 31 local authorities, which is quite difficult at a bureaucratic level. For most other industries there is probably only a regulator and one point of contact. This area is populated by many organs of State, all of which are important and necessary. To meet the aspirations of the climate action plan, the chief civil servant of the State, Mr. Fraser, has oversight of all of the actions. This industry needs one individual to go to in terms of the various barriers that exist in the deployment of solar.