Ms Karen Doyle:

I would like to make two quick points to the Deputy regarding the study that we completed before Christmas. From some of the data that we have collected, we looked at what is available and what has gone through the planning permission process, some of which may still be stuck in that process and under judicial review etc. The heartening point is that when you compare what is probably 0.75 TWh of plants which are either in or have come through that process to the 5.7 TWh target we have for 2030, there are actually a lot of projects which have decided to go ahead and progress. We need to be heartened by the fact that there are significant projects which have gone through that planning process already.

The other point is that when we look at community benefit and gain - this is a point I am personally quite committed to - and at other renewable technologies which have been developed in Ireland, there has been a very strong focus on community engagement and gain. If we look to the wind sector, in 2021 there was €4.3 million of funding that was provided to communities across 19 different counties. There are obviously job benefits and income directly to projects, farmers and communities which are supporting these projects. However, the wider community can actually benefit as well. That is why it is really important, when we look at the strategy and the renewable heat obligation, RHO schemes, that we look to see what has worked well in our energy refit schemes and our contracts for difference, CFD schemes which are currently operating. From there, we can look at how we take the best of those schemes and ensure that a community which hosts a biomethane plant is being treated in the same way as a community which hosts a solar or wind farm, and that it should have the same community dividend or benefit. That is an important point which we cannot lose sight of as we go through the strategy, making sure that we keep our communities at the heart of this.