Mr. Philip Newsome:

I will briefly respond to Ms Ní Shearcaigh's question on the community enabling framework for RESS. To set this out for committee members, there are a number of elements to the community enabling framework, which need to be thought of as a whole. There are the toolkits I mentioned earlier, the trusted advisory service and the enabling grants. All of those should work together to support community projects through the various project phases from feasibility through the early and middle stages and on to the operational stage of the project and the meeting of the various milestones.

We had the trusted advisory enabling framework done by quarter 1 and beat our climate action deadline. I am very confident that will come before very shortly in quarter 2. I cannot give a precise date but it is coming very shortly. The SEAI will announce it and it is pretty ready to go. Once that is rolled out then it should provide strong supports to community projects to get them through various stages. There are other aspects. The SEAI will develop an online training programme for renewable energy community projects. That is due by the end of the year and I hope that will provide another support, and training tool.

We have established a RESS community steering board for the Department and the SEAI to engage with the communities sector to understand what their concerns are whether it be grid connections, elements of the planning system or, indeed, the grants and how the various trusted advisers and trusted intermediaries work. The board could be a useful avenue for the island communities to engage through and we are happy to follow up on that.