Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and agreeing to take this Commencement matter. The topic concerns solar panels on farm buildings and structures. I am conscious that the Minister of State is a rural Deputy for Wexford so he will be very familiar with the issues and challenges in respect of solar panels for agriculture. This is a wonderful time for strawberries in Wexford so I can see the synergies and the potential for solar panels for soft fruit crops, particularly in the sunny south east of Wexford.

I am asking that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage clarify the current status of the draft regulations and the timelines involved. That is important. It is an issue we have discussed at great length in the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, of which I am a member. Deputy Cahill, a member of the Minister of State's party, is the Chairman. We have discussed it and teased out the issues and challenges. We have invited different representative groups and stakeholders in this area to make presentations to the committee. We see major challenges there, but we also see major opportunities. That is very important. I am also conscious of the need for strategic environmental assessment. That is a requirement, not a choice. In talking about planning law and environmental law, it is critical that we follow the processes. There is a requirement for a strategic environmental assessment, the publication of the proposals and a public consultation process, which is critical in all this.

I would appreciate if the Minister of State could give some type of guidance on where the Government intends to go now, the position with regard to the timelines and the position with the environmental impact assessment and statement.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising the important issue of the current status of the draft regulations and planning exemptions for solar panels on farm buildings and other structures, including timelines.

To provide some background on the issue, under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, all development, unless specifically exempted under the Act or associated regulations, requires planning permission. Various exemptions from the requirement to obtain planning permission are set out in the Act and regulations, and these exemptions are subject to compliance with general restrictions on exemptions set out in the Act and regulations. Included in the planning exemptions are those applying to the installation of solar infrastructure on a variety of building types, including houses, businesses and industrial and agricultural structures to which specific conditions are attached.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in the context of the climate action plan and in consultation with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, has completed a review of the existing solar panel planning exemptions set out in the regulations, with a particular focus on facilitating increased self-generation of electricity and in recognition of the limitations of the current exemptions.

Further to this work, substantial changes to the current planning exemption thresholds for solar panels are proposed, as well as the introduction of new classes of solar panel planning exemptions for apartments and educational, community and religious buildings. Draft regulations have been prepared by the Department which have been screened for appropriate assessment, AA, under the requirements of the habitats directive and strategic environmental assessment, SEA, under the requirements of the SEA directive. While the need for AA was screened out by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage's ecological assessment unit in April, it has been determined that a full SEA on the draft proposals, which will include public consultation as part of the process, is required.

A four-week statutory consultation with the environmental authorities on the scope of the draft SEA environmental report commenced on 28 April 2022 and will run until 27 May 2022. Following this consultation process, the draft environmental report will be updated to take account of submissions received from the environmental authorities, and a four-week public consultation on the draft environmental report will subsequently be launched. This public consultation is expected to commence in the coming weeks.

As required under planning legislation, the proposed exempted development regulations must be laid in draft form before the Houses of the Oireachtas and receive a positive resolution from both Houses before they can be made and the SEA process concluded.Therefore, it is envisaged that the process for finalising the solar panel planning exemptions will be completed in the coming months, following the conclusion of the public consultation process and the finalisation of the strategic environmental assessment report. The regulations will also be subject to Oireachtas approval.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. He has given us a bit of clarity, which is great. I understand that the public consultation is nearly due for completion. I thank the Minister of State for the confirmation that the regulations will be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas for affirmation. That will give us an opportunity. Measures like these usually come in without debate but it is open to us to seek a debate. I put the House on notice that I will seek some sort of engagement in the House on this matter. As I said, I believe it is important. However, it is also important that we follow the environmental report. I thank the Minister of State for bringing some clarity to this matter today.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I again thank Senator Boyhan for raising the important issue of the current status of draft regulations on planning exemptions for solar panels on farm buildings and other structures. The Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, had hoped the new regulations would be in place much sooner but the timeline has been delayed by the necessity to comply with European environmental reporting requirements, particularly those relating to the strategic environmental assessment and habitats directives. However, as I said, the Department is now in the final stages of the process. I understand every effort is being made to bring this matter to a conclusion as speedily as possible. Once again, I thank the Senator for raising this important issue, which remains at the top of the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke's agenda. The Minister of State looks forward to the imminent introduction of the revised exempted development regulations in the coming months and to the positive impact they will have on the roll-out of renewable solar infrastructure throughout the country, thereby helping to achieve our climate objectives and reduce our dependency on energy derived from fossil fuels.