Results 61-80 of 28,190 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Projects (16 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: EU Funding (16 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The Department of Transport and its agencies seek to leverage appropriate EU funding opportunities, to complement exchequer funds and to help ensure that we deliver a significant investment in public transport in the years and decades to come. The Irish Ports of National...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: State Bodies (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 54 together. On 22 July 2025 Government approved a €3.5 billion investment in Ireland’s electricity infrastructure across 2026-2030 as part of the National Development Plan. This represents the largest single investment in the country’s electricity network in its history. €1.5 billion will be allocated to ESB...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Inland Fisheries (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: I can confirm to the Deputy that the Principal Officer with responsibility for Inland Fisheries within my Department is not on secondment to the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the European Union.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Energy Infrastructure (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 23, 24 and 25 together. Extensive analysis was carried out as part of the development of the National Biomethane Strategy to determine the necessary interventions needed to support development of the industry, and deliver in line with Government ambition by 2030. This analysis included engagement with key Government Departments and wider stakeholders,...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Budget 2026 (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: Details of the 2026 allocations for my Department are published at programme level in the budget day abridged estimates (copy attached) with a total of €85.4m current and €71.5m capital allocated to the Circular Economy Development programme in 2026. In line with usual practice, allocations at subhead level will be finalised and published later this year in the Revised...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Budget 2026 (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allocation under Vote 29 for 2026 is currently being finalised and will be set out in the Revised Estimates Volume 2026 in due course. For details of EPA activity and its expenditure, please refer to the latest annual report and audited accounts available at www.epa.ie/publications/corporate/governance/EPA-Annual-Repo rt-2024-EN.pdf.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Budget 2026 (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The planned €3.5 billion equity injection into ESB and EirGrid will part finance the PR6 grid investment programme. The PR6 programme includes hundreds of grid projects that will enhance Ireland's grid capacity, flexibility, and resilience. These improvements will also allow for the grid to provide electricity supply for the growing national fleet of EVs.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Artificial Intelligence (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department continues to take advice from the National Cyber Security Centre in respect of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and is following recommendations provided in June 2023. All applications used within the Department are required to be in line with Departmental policies and procedures. My Department does not use AI to conduct its systems or operations. As with all...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 35, 36 and 41 together. My Department funds a number of grant schemes, administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), to support homeowners in improving the energy efficiency of their buildings through grants for fabric upgrade, as well as solar PV and heat pump installation. From 2019 to end September 2025, SEAI schemes provided...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Funding (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The breakdown of the budget allocations for each programme under Subhead B04 - Residential/Community Retrofit Programmes (formerly Subhead C04 / B04 'Sustainable Energy Programmes') for each of the years 2020 to 2025 is set out in the document attached. For the period 2020 to 2022, this Subhead included business and public sector programmes which are now captured within Subhead B05 'Other...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Funding (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The Microgeneration Support Scheme (MSS) was approved by Government on 21 December 2021, to support Ireland’s ambitious targets for micro-generation installations, under the Climate Action Plan. The MSS assists both domestic and non-domestic applicants, in the form of grants for Solar PV installations, up to a maximum of €1,800 in 2025 for household installations. These grants...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 39 and 40 together. The Microgeneration Support Scheme (MSS) was approved by Government on 21 December 2021, to support Ireland’s ambitious targets for micro-generation installations, under the Climate Action Plan. The MSS assists both domestic and non-domestic applicants, in the form of grants for Solar PV installations, up to a maximum of...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Funding (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The Communities Energy Grant (CEG) Scheme is part of the Government's National Retrofit Programme. The primary objective of the scheme is to support and maximise the number of home energy upgrades delivered, including upgrades to energy-poor, private, rental and approved housing body homes. Non-domestic projects are also supported to encourage broader community engagement and mobilisation. ...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The Programme for Government commits to promoting the Small-Scale Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (SRESS) to simplify market access for community, SME and farmer-owned solar and wind projects. The first phase of SRESS was launched in July 2023, which, along with the Microgeneration Support Scheme (MSS), provides non-domestic grants support for renewables self-consumers to invest in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Budget 2026 (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: Government policy is supportive of the expansion of district heating to contribute to the diversification of fuel supply to decarbonise the heat sector. To date, the Government has financially supported the development of district heating networks through the Climate Action Fund (CAF). This includes support for a large-scale scheme operational in Tallaght, which was developed by South Dublin...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Energy Production (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: Biomethane production is still at an early stage of development in Ireland with only two operational biomethane facilities injecting biomethane into the gas grid. The volume of biomethane injected into the grid in 2023 was small, equating to c. 60 GWh per annum, which is equivalent to 0.001% of Ireland’s current gas demand. Biomethane volumes injected into the gas network reduced by...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Wind Energy Generation (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The Programme for Government 2025 has reaffirmed Ireland’s targets of 80% of electricity demand to be met by renewable energy sources, this includes a target of 9GW of onshore wind generation. Ireland currently has circa 7GW of renewable generation capacity. Onshore wind is the largest contributor to this, with circa 5.1GW of wind generation capacity and 1.7GW of solar PV...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Wind Energy Generation (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: Government remains committed to the development of 5GW of offshore wind capacity with projects in construction by 2030 and energised as soon as feasible thereafter. Ireland's 5GW target will be met through a combination of projects from Phase One and from within the South Coast DMAP. Five offshore wind projects are presently in development off our East Coast. These projects account for...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Energy Production (15 Oct 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The Programme for Government outlines the Government's commitment to deliver 80% of Ireland's electricity demand from renewable energy sources including 8GW of solar energy. The total capacity of solar generation connected to the grid is now over 1.7 Gigawatts (GW). This represents very significant progress given that the first utility-scale solar project in Ireland was connected to the...