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

I know Deputy Ó Murchú has been in regular contact with me and my officials on this issue, which I know has been a real issue for the residents of Carlinn Hall, which I launched 15 years ago so I am familiar with the housing estate referred to by the Deputy.

The district heating steering group, DHSG, report, which was approved by Government in July 2023 contains a range of recommendations setting the future policy direction for the development of district heating. As part of its work, the DHSG asked the SEAI to carry out a research project using the scheme in question as the study location with the aim of understanding how a typical communal heating system operates in Ireland; assessing options to retrofit low-carbon heat sources, including indicative costs; and making recommendations for both existing and future heat networks in Ireland.

The published report contains a number of recommendations for the scheme for the short to long term and contains recommendations for communal heat networks generally. Among the options that were examined in the SEAI report for replacing the existing gas boiler were heat pumps or a biomass boiler. Grants may be available in that regard and the SEAI’s support scheme for renewable heat, for example, offers installation grants of up to 40% to support investment in renewable heating systems. The scheme in question is privately owned and managed and implementation of any of the recommendations specific to this scheme would be a matter for the relevant parties to decide upon.

See this speech in context