Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 11 October 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Retrofitting Schemes: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland

Ms Margie McCarthy:

I will come in one issue on that and then hand over to Ms Sheehan, who is working closely with the working group.

One key aspect is a decision nationally that district heating is an option we want to drive home with. Ms Sheehan will speak to the various parts of the working group there. The second is getting in to local authorities, which are currently looking at their local renewable energy strategies and their climate action plans and at a local level are working with their climate action regional offices, CAROs, and literally explaining what district heating is, the opportunity it offers and showcasing what is about to happen in Tallaght. That is a capability that will have to build very fast across Ireland. When we talked about capability constraints, that is one that we will really have to look at because building that capability into Ireland to be able to deliver it at pace is probably one of our biggest challenges. The other is general acceptance and public knowledge and awareness of what the system offers.