Mr. Jerry McEvilly:

The comments from the CRU on community buy-in are really positive. The importance of engaging early in the process, particularly with more vulnerable communities and stakeholders, is really important. This is where Ireland's low levels of microgeneration of solar and community energy need to be taken into account. We need to look at why that is the case and what blockages exist.

EirGrid went through a very positive public engagement process in the last year as part of the development of its new strategy. It went through a series of different forums, consultations and discussions with different stakeholders, including a type of citizens' assembly that it created. It was a very progressive process. Other Departments and public bodies should consider a similar process. Friends of the Earth will be running a series of events in the next few years to engage with citizens on energy transition. We would be happy to present to the committee on that. We have not yet started the events but we will be running them soon.

The Russian invasion and increasing gas prices put an entirely different slant on public acceptance and buy-in. I very much agree with Ms Connolly's point on accessibility. In the medium term, Friends of the Earth is very concerned that we may end up with essentially a two-tier energy and heating sector where higher income households and industry are able to take progressive measures to reduce their reliance on expensive fossil gas and invest in energy efficiency, microgeneration and demand response, while lower income households, farms and SMEs are left to struggle in older buildings dependent on increasingly expensive oil and gas.

While I appreciate this is not the CRU's responsibility, this is where a package of incentives and regulations, even going beyond the national retrofit scheme, is really needed. That means increasing investment still further in energy upgrades, legislation to prevent fossil fuel boilers, expanded training schemes for installers and really ensuring a ruthless focus on supporting more vulnerable households and communities.