Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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62. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 177 of 16 April 2024, the status of the community-led projects that were successful in RESS 2; the number that remain in the process; if these projects are on track to energise by 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21571/24]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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My question relates to the renewable electricity support scheme. I have a particular interest in it because having community involvement is an essential part of the solution to being sustainable in Ireland. What is the status of the community-led projects under the renewable electricity support scheme 2? How many remain in the process, and when will they be energised? Will it be 2024, 2025 or 2026?

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Through the first two renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, auctions, my Department has provided pathways and supports for communities to participate in renewable energy projects through the application of a community projects category. Ten community projects were successful in the RESS 2 auction. Of these, eight signed implementation agreements to deliver under the RESS 2 terms and conditions and remain in the scheme. Those projects are proceeding through the scheme milestones. Some may develop through alternative routes to market, including the upcoming small-scale renewable electricity support scheme, SRESS. The final date for projects to achieve commercial operation in RESS 2 is 31 December 2026. There is evidence of significant challenges which renewable energy community projects may face with the competitive, auction-based nature of RESS, along with grid and other barriers to project delivery. Community projects therefore will now transition to the non-competitive small-scale renewable electricity support scheme. The export tariff phase of SRESS to support small-scale and community renewable projects is due to be launched in the coming weeks with the announcement of relevant tariff support rates which will be a major step forward in supporting the community energy sector. It will include similar community energy-enabling technical and financial supports that are currently provided under RESS.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I welcome the last part where the Minister of State said the new SRESS scheme will be announced in the next few weeks. A climate emergency was declared in 2019, as he well knows. The renewable electricity support scheme was introduced in 2018. It is now six years later, and we seem to be limping on and limping on. I am really trying to find out information about the first RESS scheme. I did not ask about that specifically tonight, but my question is based on a series of questions trying to get a handle on the community-based projects. On the specific question asked tonight the Minister of State tells me ten applied and eight remain in the scheme. Can we get any details on where those eight are? What happened to the other two? He then said they are going to progress through different stages and through the market. When and how will that happen? It seems that it is all slowly evolving in a reactive way as opposed to a planned approach to community involvement for maximum effect.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I start by acknowledging that community energy is really important. It creates a sense of ownership and belonging and the mechanisms that might work in the commercial sector have not worked in the community. The mechanism of auction has not proved appropriate in the community sector. It is because of this that a new scheme is being launched. There was extensive engagement with communities to try to devise a scheme that would be suitable and successful whereby instead of bidding for a price, a price would be agreed through negotiation. These are not, after all, large profit-making companies and a scheme that was more appropriate for a smaller community-led project than one that was backed with large corporate finance could be determined. I have full faith at this stage that it will succeed.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I do not share the same faith with the Minister of State, although I share the importance of community involvement. I will repeat that this has been going on from 2018 to 2024 and we are limping on and limping on. I have no handle on which communities have been successful. I want to share that with my own constituents in Galway. The private sector has a huge offshore plan in Sceirde that is causing great community division with the scale and size of it offshore. We will come to that another day. We are here talking about success stories in theory, but I do not know where they are. I do not know how many relate to solar or how many relate to wind, what is the involvement or what are the challenges. I know that the auction-based method did not suit. We knew from day one that it was never going to suit. Indeed, the total corporatisation does not suit either, but that is perhaps a discussion for another day. Will the Minister of State guide me? I am not tired asking questions, but it is a slow and painstaking way of trying to elicit information that should be upfront. If these are success stories, we should be celebrating them, learning from them and rolling them out more.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Can the information be provided to the Deputy at an early stage?

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I will ask the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to provide that information to the Deputy directly.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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It is presumably not secret.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I do not imagine it is. I do not know if there is any legal impediment to releasing it. All the Deputy has asked for is the nature of the products - whether they are solar or wind, who the projects are, and what the status is of the eight projects proceeding. I will ask the Minister to provide the Deputy with more details on that. I do not have details of those particular eight projects, and I am not sure if that is asked for within the question. However, I will ask the Minister to provide her with that information and I reiterate that the new small-scale scheme is due to be announced in the coming weeks.