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

I am confident we can do it. Solar will play a large part. I will give Deputy Burke some further figures to back this up. In 2022, there were 10,000 applications. We had only just introduced the microgeneration support scheme, which cost €24 million and had a capacity of 46 MW. Last year 22,000 homes received grant support, with a total value of €52 million. Applications are flying and the number is increasing all the time. I am told the industry is increasing the build-up of its capacity and the supply chain is working very well. As I said, 100 houses a day are putting solar panels on the roof but it is not just homes. Last autumn we introduced a new scheme to provide a grant of up to €162,000 to businesses for up to 1 MW solar installation. This has taken off. We filled up the order book straight away. We have already spent something like €15 million in supports. We are providing further finance. We said it was a pilot scheme but we are not stopping because it is working.

The publication of the new small-scale generation support scheme, which will go up to 5 MW of solar power, with the REFIT scheme, is really designed to support the farming sector and other sectors. I had a meeting with the community energy sector yesterday for us to develop community energy solutions. That support scheme will give a guaranteed price for solar up to 5 MW. Again, it is going to be a further element in the mix. That is not to mention the large-scale projects coming through the RESS and through the corporate power purchase agreements, PPAs. On five or six different fronts, we are seeing huge investment and advancement. To my mind, nothing is going to stop the solar revolution.

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