Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)

Following Cabinet approval the Department will work closely with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to commence drafting on the Bill in the new year before seeking Oireachtas approval. The legislation will be drafted to reflect the guiding principles of the policy statement and clarify the necessary regulations to build private wires in the policies for specified use cases. Plenty of examples have been brought to my attention, some of which are in my own constituency, where there are significant constraints on the capacity of the grid to meet the growing demand from industry, data centres and housing. There is an abundance of sites that are able to bring that electricity to the grid. It will be a useful tool in working our way around the constraints that are currently preventing significant development taking place. It is a priority of the Government. It was identified in the programme for Government as something that needs to be addressed and one on which no time will be lost. I thank the Deputy for his interest.

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