Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their contributions, specifically the members of the Select Committee on Climate Action who gave priority consideration to these agreements at their meeting yesterday afternoon. A number of Deputies have rightly remarked on the significant costs to the State associated with these agreements and what an equivalent investment of €50 million would have achieved in retrofitting our housing stock, or in education or public health. The solution to avoiding future costs for statistical transfers or other such measures is not to reduce our climate and energy ambitions, it is to accelerate delivery across all Departments and State agencies concerned. The Government's Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill will establish a 2050 climate neutrality objective in law and place all relevant climate plans and strategies on a statutory footing. The Bill will define how five-year carbon budgets and related sectoral targets will be set, with every sector contributing, ensuring that we continue to work to achieve a broad political and societal consensus on the transition to a climate-neutral economy and society. Putting these requirements in legislation places a clear obligation on this Government and future Governments to take sustained climate action. The Bill also provides appropriate oversight by Government, a strengthened climate change advisory council and a significantly strengthened accountability and oversight role for the Oireachtas.

A number of Deputies commented on the enormous opportunity from offshore renewable energy. To progress our commitment of having 5 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030, the Department is developing the terms and conditions of the offshore renewable electricity support scheme, RESS. The offshore RESS will be the means for supporting offshore wind developments via a competitive, auction-based framework. The competitive element is required under the state aid clearance for the scheme in order to achieve our renewable energy ambitions at the lowest cost to consumers.

The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, will shortly be publishing a public consultation on microgeneration. It will seek stakeholder views on a microgeneration support scheme which will, in time, provide an export tariff for excess electricity produced by homes and businesses. The proposed scheme will be aligned with the requirements of the recast renewable energy directive 2018 which has to be transposed by June 2021. The scheme will offer homes, businesses and farms an opportunity to earn some money for excess electricity produced. However, it is important that people first reduce their energy demand through energy efficiency measures, such as retrofitting and measures like it.

The Government is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and an annual reduction of 7% in overall greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, including through maximising the amount of renewable energy on the grid. Future advances and system flexibility, storage technologies, including batteries and green hydrogen, as well as regional and international interconnection, will enable high levels of renewable electricity on our grid.

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