Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I share the Minister's positive approach. It is good that we are on track to deliver our effort-sharing commitment to the 42% reduction, taking into account a lower level of offsets. That is a significant milestone. It is short of what we set out in our legislation but it is a significant step forward and there are very positive trends there.

There is huge potential for Ireland to deliver renewable energy on a much wider scale. Representatives from the Climate Change Advisory Council recently appeared before the committee. They were pretty withering in saying some of the things the Minister has already touched on. We really need the spatial planning guidelines and the guidelines on onshore wind. I know planning delays have dogged many of our ambitions. There is also the regulatory treatment of battery storage. Those are things we should be able to move along. Quite surprisingly, the CCAC talked about how other countries are asserting overriding national interest to push through and overcome some of the planning obstacles. That has many risks but it shows how they are thinking about the urgency of this versus the planning constraints.

While we had a successful offshore auction, the subsequent RESS has not been so successful. There have been suggestions from some quarters that that indicates the market is cooling off in its enthusiasm to be part of the Irish model.

We need to hear more about that. I am looking forward to the loan scheme that is going to help people deliver retrofits. A key piece will be the interest rate. I think the ambition is that, between the grants and the loans, people can pay for the entire thing from the savings they generate, or that is the sort of model the Minister has articulated. Can we get to that? It could be a potential game-changer.

I would be interested to hear how we are going to push through on district heating. The Minister said he felt there was a breakthrough there.

On mobility hubs, it seems a very practical thing that we could have in our city and it will promote the idea of sharing vehicles using public transport and active transport from these hubs. That is something I would like to see accelerated as one of the measures that pick up speed in some of our areas. It is disheartening that, even now, the four Dublin local authorities have not yet delivered their procurement for EV charging capacity. We have a lot of estates across the city, including in my own area, for which EV charging is not going to be practical because of the configuration of the homes. They need public space EV chargers.

We heard presentations that we should be looking at the weight of cars, as well as CO2 and so on. Has the Minister given any thought to that? The huge penetration of very heavy SUVs into the motor market is perverse. Can we do anything to incentivise change?