Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as teacht isteach chomh déanach seo. This is a question I have been looking to put for quite a while. It is something the Government needs to take seriously. This is a space in which we need to be proactive and engage with all stakeholders, including developers, the ESB and other electrical and energy providers.

The long and short definition, as I understand it from a layman's point of view, is that private wire is essentially where private industry, particularly large energy users like pharmaceutical companies, data centres and so on are essentially taken off-grid and they try to provide as much of their own energy through wind or solar power as possible, perhaps with the help of a nearby farmer or whatever the case may be. This allows these companies to provide for the vast majority of their energy needs. The difficulty is that the ESB has full power over consent in this area.

As I understand it, private wire is covered under section 37 of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999. Essentially in many cases it allows for the ESB to be very slow at engaging with these big developments. The ESB does not want to see these large energy users becoming self-sustainable because it is not in the long-term interests of the ESB. It does not want to see large profitable consumers of energy and customers going off grid. In the long term it is taking a view that it will damage its profit margins. I am extremely worried about this area. I submitted a parliamentary question to the Department which is dated 21 September. In the reply the Minister said this is a commitment under the Climate Action Plan 2021. The plan includes a commitment to review this policy. The aim was that the review would be undertaken by the first quarter of this year. Unfortunately we are now in the fourth quarter. It is six to nine months down the line and we are still waiting for the review.

This is an urgent matter. People are facing ever-growing bills. We look across the water at what is going on in the UK and the extortionate amounts people are paying for energy. Thankfully the Government has stepped in in the short term here and provide €200 energy credits over a period of time. This is very welcome. In the long run we know from the forecast of the energy regulator, and from anybody in the field, that we are facing a decade when we will struggle to keep up with demand. This is something on which we need to act now. By the Department's own admission it is something we should have acted on in the first quarter of this year. I am very concerned because this is not the only issue on which we are behind schedule. There are also the wind and solar energy guidelines that seem to have been going on forever. It is almost depressing when we get responses that state we are behind schedule and we will catch up. I hope the Minister will have a positive response that will outline exactly what he and the Department will do on this urgent issue.

See this speech in context