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

I welcome the opportunity to set out the actions being taken by the Government in response to the announcement of the downsizing of the Moneypoint power station in west Clare. The programme for Government committed to achieving an average reduction of 7% per annum in overall greenhouse gas emissions from 2021 to 2030. This remains a key objective for the Government, and the changes to electricity generation within Moneypoint form part of the steps required to meet this goal.

The 2019 climate action plan also committed to ending the burning of coal at Moneypoint by 2025 at the latest and to the replacement of coal-fired generation with low-carbon and renewable technologies. This remains the objective of the updated climate action plan, due to be released later this year.

The national just transition fund was established in mid-2020 to respond to the immediate closure of the ESB-owned power stations in Lanesborough, County Longford, and Shannonbridge, County Offaly, and to support affected communities in the region with the transition from employment in peat harvesting. As a result of this direct focus, eight of the most affected counties were eligible to submit funding applications to the 2020 just transition fund.

The Government has announced provisional funding offers totalling almost €30 million under the just transition fund to more than 60 projects throughout the region for projects from the private sector, local authorities and communities in the midlands that are committed to creating a green and sustainable economy for the region. This will contribute to making the midlands an attractive and sustainable place to live and work, including by funding training and reskilling so local businesses and communities can adjust to a low-carbon transition.

Looking ahead to future just transition supports, the European green deal has led to the establishment of a new EU just transition fund whose objective will be to alleviate the socioeconomic impacts of the low-carbon transition in the most affected regions across the EU. This fund may be used to support the reskilling of workers, help SMEs to create new economic opportunities, and promote the diversification of economic activity towards low-carbon sectors and progress towards achieving the EU's 2030 climate targets and a climate neutral economy by 2050.

Ireland must prepare a territorial just transition plan, for approval by the European Commission, in order to secure access to supports from this new EU fund. The territorial plan will set out our investment priorities and will identify the sectors and regions to be supported. Part of my Department's work to prepare this territorial plan will include identification of the most affected regions based on the requirements and criteria of the relevant EU regulations. I envisage that this work will be completed this summer.

Separately, as part of the renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, it is a requirement that renewable electricity generation projects that gain support establish a community benefit fund for the distribution of benefits to local communities. Under the first RESS auction it is expected that these funds could amount to more than €4 million per year for local communities across the country. These benefit funds will give local communities the ability to fund worthy sustainable development initiatives as well as fund local clubs and societies that the community deems worthy of support. These funds will be vital in ensuring that communities that host the electricity generation projects of the future retain the benefits locally.

I am aware of a number of projects in counties Clare and Limerick that were successful in the first RESS auction last September and communities in the vicinity of those projects will begin to see the benefits of that funding in the coming years. With the abundant natural renewable resources in west Clare, and offshore, I expect to see further projects coming through later RESS auctions with a resulting increase in funding through local community benefit funds throughout the mid-west region. In the longer term, the Government is planning major investment in offshore wind resources in the Atlantic Ocean, bringing economic benefits to the mid-western region including through development of ports and re-using existing grid infrastructure.My Department is carrying out a review of the security of energy supply of Ireland's electricity and natural gas systems, focusing on the period to 2030 in the context of a sustainable pathway to 2050. This review will consider a range of options to enhance the security of supply, including sources of electricity generation for use in the event of a shortage of natural gas.