Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We need to be careful as there are very different types of heating system which may be called district heating. Some are more like communal heating systems where people share a common heating source in an apartment building. The district heating system, the likes of the Poolbeg one, is where we are going. Excess heat from another neighbouring source, or which is generated outside the apartment building and which is shipped in to that building is where we need to go. I agree with the Deputy that it has been very frustrating that despite the provision of significant funding and finance to Dublin City Council to advance Poolbeg distribution scheme it has not developed as quickly as all of us wanted. As I understand, there was a meeting with Dublin City Council on this issue recently. The scheme is now ready to go to procurement. I told the council it should make sure that process is not so elongated and does not further delay what we need to see happen. I want to see that project and that heat being used by 2025 so that we start to meet our climate targets, lower people's bills, and turn waste into an opportunity. That is the beauty and brilliance of district heating, that it actually creates a circular economy, turns waste into wealth, and that is why we want to see it rolled out not just in Poolbeg but across the country as fast as we can.

See this speech in context