John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to take this Commencement matter. I raise it because the idea and commitments on this issue in the programme for Government are excellent. If we can imagine it in layman's terms, it is the concept of people being able to put solar panels on their homes and businesses and farmers being able to diversify into this area by using some of their land for solar power. They would then be able to take the energy generated and sell it back to the national grid. A middle of the road type of person who is environmentally conscious but might be not into climate action or energy as much as other people could look at this and see how he or she could play a part and make some money on the side at the same time. People can do this by applying for a grant, putting a solar panel on their roof and selling the energy back into the grid. It is a great idea and it is good that we will do this.

What are the timelines for the Government introducing this proposal? The problem with the renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, 1 projects being pushed by this is that they are not being delivered at the rate needed if we are to achieve some of our targets. We have not seen any proper work programmes from EirGrid or ESB Networks. Every delay of a day is a day longer. I am hoping to get the Government's view on where its timelines are, what it wants to do about this and how quickly we can deliver these projects. When can we get this set up in such a way that we get the ball moving quickly? I believe we are getting bogged down in the technicalities.

I said earlier that the clock is ticking on this, which means a loss of revenue. It is harming the financial model and the underpinning of the RESS 1 projects. The delivery of the projects is being slightly delayed by this inflexible and rigid process. What pressure is the Government putting on EirGrid and ESB Networks to deliver this network in the first instance in order that people can sell electricity back into the grid?

When I looked at some of the grid integration barriers in a European context, I wondered whether we face the same problems here. For example, solar PV project developers report a general issue with the availability of grid capacity across the Continent. That is something we need to consider here. One of the key reasons for that problem is the insufficient level of investment in grids. What level of investment will the Government introduce? Where investment happens, it is not always targeted at the most optimised technologies. The Government needs to be concerned about that as well.

Another issue is the limited development of the flexibility of resources. Where we can address the need for grid reinforcement and optimise investment levels, solar technology such as batteries and girders has the potential to provide new energy to grid - flexible feed-in reactive power. These services can do a lot to support grid stability in the first instance. I am getting into the technical side. These are a couple of points I looked up in respect of the European Continent.

What I am seeking today is the Government's overall plan on this project, its timelines and what it hopes to achieve. This is an excellent project and I am right behind it, as is everyone else, but I would appreciate some clarification from the Minister of State.