Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not saying it is not. Rather, we need to examine whether the operation of the grant system suits this. Others who have been involved in the wider idea of district heating systems have said that the support scheme for renewable heat would have to be altered to facilitate real moves. Regardless of whoever is in government when the Bill is enacted, it will be necessary. We all accept that these gas-fed communal systems are not perfect and just fell into operation. We need a regulatory model to ensure that we have something better. We do not know what the future holds for gas hikes, but we know that this system is not perfect.

It is not the developer but the residents and this is a major imposition on them, so we have to facilitate them. There will need to be some element of State involvement. The SEAI is open to having conversations, but we need to consider the question of how we provide grants to ensure this approach works.

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