Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome to the House the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and hand the floor over to him.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Chathaoirligh. I thank you and your colleagues for the opportunity to come before the Seanad.

I am pleased to address the House on the Second Stage of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025. The Bill before the House today will provide the legal mechanism for the payment of €1.5 billion of equity investment in the ESB as committed to by the Government under the national development plan. I will open the debate by setting out the broader context for why Government equity investment is required, before outlining the detail within the Bill itself.

As Senators will be aware, lreland's electricity demand will grow significantly over the upcoming decade. It is estimated that electricity demand will double by 2035, and this is in addition to the 25% growth that we have already seen over the past ten years. The International Energy Agency, IEA, has advised that expanding and modernising electricity grids is essential for a secure, affordable and sustainable electricity system.However, it has expressed concern that investment in grids globally is falling and is failing to keep pace with spending on generation and electrification. In Ireland, every five years, our network companies, ESB Networks and EirGrid, present their five-year forecast investment plans to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, which then approves the revenues allowable for their operating and investment programmes. CRU published its draft determination for the next price review, PR6, in July of this year. An overall network expenditure programme of anywhere between €14.1 billion and €18.1 billion is being considered for the remainder of this decade. That shows the significance of the investment the Government is committing to and how essential it is that this is done.

The level of investment being considered marks a real step change in delivery. We expect a final decision on it next month. We will more than double the investment made under the previous investment programme, PR5. This unprecedented package of investment will enable the network companies to support Ireland through this period of change in terms of our use and demand for electricity. It will support key priorities in infrastructure and housing. It will help with competitiveness and help to drive investment and growth. Really importantly, it will help us to continue to decarbonise and to meet our climate targets and objectives.

The benefits of extending and reinforcing the grid are many. They include improving the resilience of our grid system, which is absolutely critical, and future-proofing it for generations to come. It will ensure that every home and every business has a reliable and secure source of electricity, including the 300,000 new homes we have committed to build by the end of this decade. It will safeguard against damage from future weather events and storms. We saw the impact of that with Storm Éowyn. While not quite unprecedented, it was the most severe storm event we have seen. Some 768,000 households and premises were left without power due to that storm. The resilience of our grid is absolutely critical. That is why this investment is critical. Really importantly, extending and reinforcing the grid will also accelerate the connection of new sources of renewable electricity, which will contribute to Ireland's transition to greater levels of renewable energy and the achievement of our climate goals. Last year, in 2024, 41% of our electricity was generated by renewables. If you go back 20 years, it was only 7%. Ireland is a European leader on the integration of renewables into our grid. This grid investment will allow us to expand and accelerate that further. We have a target of 80% renewable energy by the end of the decade. This investment will help to underpin that.

The investment also has huge importance for our economy and will be key to ensuring that the State can increase the critical infrastructure that is needed for continued economic growth and employment in our economy, underpinning the national development plan, the review of which we have just concluded. It will underpin projects like MetroLink, which Senator Clifford-Lee and I both know to be critically important, and others right across the country.

However, the scale of the increase means that both companies will need financial support to deliver the ambitious investment programmes. In July of this year, as part of the NDP, the Government agreed an investment of up to €3.5 billion in additional equity to support the PR6 grid investment programme. This represents the largest single investment ever made in Ireland's electricity network. Some €2 billion will be invested in EirGrid to support the financing of its offshore grid investment plans. I refer not just to the offshore renewable electricity support scheme, ORESS, 1 projects that are in planning right now, but also to getting EirGrid into a situation where it can leverage that to invest in the offshore grid. A further €1.5 billion will be invested in ESB to support the financing of its onshore grid investment plans.

EirGrid's equity investment mechanism will be agreed and legislated for separately next year whereas the investment in the ESB is required by the end of this year. That is why I am here today for Second Stage. This work needs to be concluded by the end of this calendar year to ensure payment from the Government's Central Fund, as approved under the NDP, and to ensure the ESB is sufficiently financed prior to 2026 to begin delivery of the ambitious programme I have just touched on. Given the urgency of the investment, I wrote to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy to seek a waiver from pre-legislative scrutiny. I thank the committee for granting that waiver following a technical briefing provided by officials from the Department, who are here with me today. I am also seeking a motion for early signature in respect of the President's signature of the Bill.

The €1.5 billion equity investment in the ESB will support its ability to finance the overall investment programme I have already referred to. This programme plan will be financed by debt issuance on the bond market, supported by the Government's equity investment, which I am bringing forward today, and ESB Network's regulated income, as approved by the CRU. It will see the delivery of over 500 capital projects across transmission and distribution networks. This includes 181 km of new overhead lines, 319 km of new underground cables, nearly 70 new and upgraded substations right across the country and 50,000 pole replacements.

ESB Networks will expand, modernise and reinforce our onshore electricity network infrastructure. Without Government equity investment, the ESB would be unable to deliver such an extensive and rapid programme of work in the five-year period to 2030. The investment will also support the strength of the ESB's balance sheet and ultimately assist it in maintaining its excellent credit ratings. While the investment does not directly lower current customer electricity bills, it will maintain that strong credit rating, which ensures the ESB can borrow at the most competitive interest rates, which ultimately lowers the impact of network charges on customer bills. It is also important to note that the State will continue to receive dividends in proportion to its shareholding. On a separate but important issue, legal consideration has determined that this equity investment does not give rise to any issues with regard to state aid.

I will briefly outline the subject matter of the Bill. Section 2 amends section 4 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act 1954 to provide for the increase of the statutory borrowing limit of the ESB from €12 billion to €17 billion. This increase is necessary to support the potential €15.2 billion expenditure by ESB Networks from 2026 to 2030.

Section 3 amends section 2 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act 2001 through the insertion of new subsections. The new section 2(5) provides for the issuance of capital stock by the ESB in return for payment up to the value of €1.5 billion. Some 90% of such stock shall be issued to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation and 10% shall be issued to the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment.

The new section 2(6) provides for the procedure for the Minister for Finance to make payment to the ESB up to the value of €1.5 billion for capital stock from the Central Fund and the new section 2(7) enables the ESB to issue stock to the employee share ownership plan, ESOP, in return for payment should the trustees choose to invest in the ESB to maintain their current shareholding percentage. The ESOP will have a period of up to 12 months following Government investment to make its investment. At present the State's shareholding in the ESB stands at 97.4%. The ESOP holds 2.6%. Should the ESOP choose not to participate in the equity investment, the State shareholding will obviously increase. ESB management has advised my Department that ESB employees are supportive of both the equity investment by the Government and the ambitious investment plan we are about to embark under PR6.

I commend the Bill to the House. I look forward to the debate. I am interested in the input of my colleagues here in Seanad Éireann.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome Senator McCarthy and his sister, Helga Cleary, to the Gallery. It is her first time here. I hope she enjoys her visit to Leinster House.

Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome this Bill. I thank the Minister for giving such a comprehensive outline of the measures contained within it. Delivery of critical infrastructure is key for the economic and social well-being of this country. This €1.5 billion investment is significant and will help with the delivery of that critical infrastructure. The Minister outlined projects such as extra housing, which is very badly needed, and the MetroLink project. This investment will help to deliver that. Electricity infrastructure is crucial for our growing population. The Minister outlined how our electricity demands are going to double over the coming years. That is really significant. As we are learning to work smarter and have a more modern economy, this electricity infrastructure is vital.As we move away from fossil fuels, it will become more vital. This is welcome.

I do not need to tell the Minister the challenges communities across north county Dublin have faced with power outages. There has been unprecedented investment in housing in north county Dublin, which is of course welcome, but extra houses give rise to pressures on the electricity grid. Communities in Lusk, Donabate and, in particular, Rush have dealt with significant outages. The situation has improved, but it requires further significant improvement. I know the Minister is very aware of that. The investment is timely and I am glad it is going to happen early. I am glad pre-legislative scrutiny has been waived and the investment can get going and deliver for people.

The resilience of the grid is key. There are more frequent and fiercer storms due to climate change, which means our grid has to be far more resilient. This investment, it is to be hoped, will ensure that. Of course, the future will see more frequent weather events, which will put pressure on our grid.

The connection of new sources of renewable energy will be facilitated by the Bill. This will contribute to our resilience as a country in terms of renewable sources of energy, which will lead to a more secure geopolitical situation for us. That is to be welcomed. Of course, the underpinning of critical infrastructure outlined in our recent national development plan will be supported by this investment.

I appreciate that the Minister is acting as urgently as possible. He mentioned that the investment will allow the ESB to achieve the best possible rate for electricity and borrow at the most competitive rates. This will, of course, benefit customers. The Minister will be aware that Irish customers are paying, on average, far higher rates than the EU average for energy. It is something I hope he can examine over the coming weeks and months because we are in a very difficult situation at the moment with the rise in the cost of living. Of course, energy prices are key to that. I ask the Minister to come back to the House at a later stage for a debate on energy poverty. That would be very worthwhile. I commend the work of the Minister on the Bill. I also commend the Bill to my colleagues. We will obviously support it.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome the Minister and thank him for coming before the House. Clearly, there is an element of urgency, as he has outlined. He explained why pre-legislative scrutiny was waived. I want to put a few issues into focus. I thank the Minister for his detailed presentation.

The Bill was published on 30 October. It went through the Dáil and completed Second Stage on 5 November. It is now before us. I am always conscious of people who are listening in and I try to set the scene for an external rather than internal audience. We will have the opportunity, subject to a deadline tomorrow, to submit amendments. I do not envisage putting down any amendments, but I want to use this opportunity to flag a few concerns with the Minister. I am best placed here to get some sort of productive response from him.

Once enacted, the Bill will allow the Government to issue €1.5 billion in additional capital stock in ESB Networks. As my colleague said, any time we talk about ESB Networks we talk about the cost of energy. We know about the VAT audit and the add-ons to everyone's bill. There is a cost factor for domestic customers. They are always keen to know what is going on. People want to know why the cost of the production of energy and electricity is the highest in Europe. We of course need to talk about industry and business.

Behind all of that, we need to invest in infrastructure. We need to catch up, which is a challenge. To be fair to the ESB, it has a great track record in that regard. The Bill also provides for an increase in the statutory borrowing limit for the ESB, as the Minister set out, from €12 billion to €17 billion. It is an enormous Bill and a lot of money is involved.

I took the time to look at the first quarter results for the ESB for 2025 and I want to share them with the House. Underlying operating profits were €424 million, in line with the same period for 2024. Profits after tax were €313 million. Increased investment in critical infrastructure, which to be fair it has invested in, was €1.3 billion. Net debt increased slightly above last year at €6.6 billion. A significant sum was investment in capital investment projects. I could go on. The figures are clear for anyone to see. They are on the website and people can look at them.

As someone who is on the agricultural panel, I have a particular interest in forestry. There are a lot of concerns about it. The Minister will know the critical infrastructure corridors that run through our forestry across the country and the challenges that has created, in particular in some cases, but not all, inappropriate planting. There are challenges around public and private forestry, which is about a 48% to 52% split. Coillte deals with State forestry. There are challenges.

These are important infrastructural corridors and they have great potential for add-ons for other services. There will be a cost. There are ongoing issues with the IFA, which expressed a lot of concerns about the proposed legislation, in particular the protection of forestry corridors. Who will pay for clearance to keep lines free? Forestry falls under the remit of the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, but we need to engage with the IFA, private landowners and farmers. It is not just farmers who own land under substantial forestry; there are also investors.

There are stakeholders. We need to get to the bottom of that. We need to determine who will cover the cost. Somebody suggested that the ESB will pass on the costs involved to the customer. I do not want to hear that when I see the profit margins of the ESB. I wish to acknowledge its excellent work. That is important.

There is also concern about the imposition of maintenance obligations on landowners, and we need to know more about that. I am not sure whether the Minister is aware that there may be pending legislation or regulation in regard to this. The ESB is currently empowered to fell and clear when it relates to critical infrastructure. Let us not get too technical about this. Let us see whether we can meet the stakeholders, including forestry representative bodies, and determine whether we can develop some sort of protocol or code to deal with cost. Forestry owners encounter huge costs and losses due to various storms. There are other challenges.

Ash dieback is a major challenge. It has an impact on electricity wires. That is an important point. I ask the Minister to speak to his colleague about it.

I thank the Department for providing a briefing note. It refers to the progress of the Bill, and it is to be hoped it will pass. A debate is scheduled for next Tuesday, which will be an hour and 15 minutes but may change if amendments are tabled, and we will know that before lunchtime tomorrow. The note states that, pending enactment of the Bill, significant investment by the Government in the ESB to part-finance the delivery of the PR6 grid investment programme will continue to be overseen by officials from the Minister's Department. The Minister might touch on how he plans to do that. The note also states that the Department will ensure the equity investment and appropriate legal documentation are put in place. I presume all of that is in order.

Page 2 of the explanatory memorandum for the Bill speaks of the importance of jobs, rural communities and competitiveness in industry, and the costs associated with all of that. I fully understand that and know where the Bill is coming from. It also refers to how the Bill will impact on SMEs and the ever-demanding and challenging areas around climate change, the just transition and all that goes with that.

I was particularly interested in the reference to rural communities. The explanatory memorandum states that rural communities will benefit significantly from the requirements for investment and the upgrade to electricity, etc. It goes on to refer to the establishment of the local community benefit funds, which will be used for the sustainable, environmental, economic, social and cultural well-being of local committees. I welcome that. Could the Minister arrange for a briefing note on the scope of all of that and on how people in local communities can access the funding?That is the sort of buy-in that we need. Sometimes when there are objections or concerns they can be ameliorated to a certain extent when we explain the benefits, and it is benefit in kind. What are the benefits to our citizens? What are the benefits, particularly to our rural communities? This will impact on them, but it will impact on our urban communities as well. Everyone here would be very interested to see the benefits of this legislation. If he could, the Minister might provide a briefing note next week or whenever he gets time just to flesh out the scope and the benefits of all that, how and when it will come on stream and the opportunities to access it. I thank the Minister. He has my support.

Mark Duffy (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Minister is welcome to the House this afternoon to discuss the energy and electricity Bill. I welcome the urgency of it moving ahead at speed because we do need to move at speed both in terms of legislating for this important Bill but also in creating the critical infrastructure that is needed to deliver on the ambitions that have been set out by Government, including housing, transport and, indeed, energy. The €1.5 billion investment into ESB Networks over the next five years is critical for the growth and ambition the Minister has outlined, as well as the increased borrowing limits from €12 billion to €17 billion. It is very ambitious and should set the conditions for that. On a day when we have the launch of the new housing plan with the ambition over the next five years to build 300,000 new homes, the bedrock and the conditions need to be set for that, and one of the most fundamental is electricity and, obviously, water and wastewater infrastructure to facilitate this ambitious target.

We know that housing is the pressing social need of the day. This investment can and will be critical to enabling that ambitious development, so I do welcome that. However, we are also talking this morning about delivering homes and building communities. We need to have strong transport-orientated development around these new developments and new settlements right across the country. We need to strengthen and make more resilient our transport network and this investment can help do that. Importantly, as we decarbonise as a country, we need to have the infrastructure and the networks and grid to enable that both from a macrogeneration point of view - we all know the opportunity that is presented with offshore renewable energy and onshore, again, in the right places - but also microgeneration for community-owned renewable projects and, indeed, individual homeowners can all play a small part in us decarbonising as a country but also growing our economy and growing the ambition of the country. In particular over the past number of years since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the weaponisation of energy we have seen right across the Continent and, indeed, worldwide, we need to have a strong, secure and stable energy supply and we need to be resilient in relation to that. I welcome this ambition and this investment. I welcome the discussion on it this afternoon in the Seanad and I hope that we can collectively move forward with it as soon as possible.

Senator Boyhan mentioned rural communities. In my own county of Mayo we have some of the largest windfarms in the country, but we also have some operators who are trying to chance their arm really because of the lack of regulation on where is the right and suitable location for inland turbines and renewable energy projects. We do need clarity on that, and we need to see gain and community benefit at source in these communities in these counties. I know there are some, but it does need to be improved upon. Like I said, we have live issues where we have proposed developments in places that are totally unsuitable, so we do need to have clarity in terms of where and what is being proposed and developed, and when they are developed, there needs to be strong gain locally. People need to see that if there is an investment into improving the electrical supply for the State then the domestic user who is next to these farms should see a positive impact for their bill. I believe it is a very easy way of showing the benefit that Senator Boyhan has outlined. This is a huge financial investment in the ESB, and small interventions like that to support homeowners who are impacted at source is a marked way of bringing people along on this journey we are going on as a country where we are trying to rapidly increase the provision of critical infrastructure like housing, transport and energy while also rapidly decreasing our carbon footprint. It is unprecedented in terms of its investment and ambition, and I welcome that, but, as political representatives, we always must take this into account. We always must bring communities and people along on this journey with us. I commend this Bill on behalf of my colleagues in Fine Gael in the House. I look forward to further discussion on it.

Joanne Collins (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome the Minister. There is no question that we need urgent and ambitious action to fix our electricity grid, which has been crippled by decades of underinvestment, bad planning and mismanagement. That neglect has left us in a critical infrastructure deficit, with soaring prices and a grid that cannot even connect new homes or maximise our renewable potential.

Just this summer, 80 families were unable to move into their new homes because there was no electricity connection. Across the State, renewable generation is being wasted because the grid cannot carry the power, so, yes, investment is essential, but how that investment is planned, managed and overseen will determine whether we fix these failures or repeat them again. Unfortunately, as drafted, this Bill risks repeating them. It lacks transparency, accountability and the necessary protections for households. That is why Sinn Féin has tabled amendments to the Bill. I really hope we can have a good discussion on them because they are constructive, responsible and grounded in fairness.

I am going to very briefly run through what each one is about. I will be going into more detail next week. Our first amendment would require ESB to report directly to the Oireachtas within six months and annually thereafter. This report would set out where the money is being borrowed, what projects it is funding and, crucially, what impact it has on electricity prices for consumers. Let us be honest: without transparency, there can be no accountability. The public has the right to know where the money is going and whether it is serving the public good or corporate interests.

Our second amendment will set out a clear prioritisation framework for the investment modelled on the Dutch authority for consumers and markets, ACM, model to make sure that ESB's new borrowing powers are targeted where they are needed most. That means investment in congestion softeners in areas where the grid is constrained, security of supply for hospitals, Garda stations and water infrastructure and especially cases where there is clear public interest. This means excluding grid connections for any new data centres because housing has to come before data centres. Data centres have hijacked our electricity grid. They now consume 22% of our national electricity demand, projected to reach one third by 2030. That compares with between 3% and 5% for other EU countries. Meanwhile, families are being priced out of their homes and young couples are being told that housing cannot go ahead because the grid is full. This has to stop.

Our third amendment is about protecting households. It requires the ESB to ensure that any borrowing under the Bill does not lead to an increase in the domestic tariffs beyond inflationary adjustments because households are already paying some of the highest energy bills across Europe. Over 300,000 households are now in arrears yet under the Government's own regulatory draft price review 6, households and SMEs will see their network charges rise while large users like the data centres will get a reduction of up to 18%. That is just not fair. It is actually scandalous, when we think about it, that households are going to pay more and data centres will pay less. It means that the very companies driving up the energy demand are being asked to pay less while the ordinary families are paying more. Our amendments would ensure that the €1.5 billion of public investment and the extra €5 billion in borrowing powers are used to bring down the costs and not drive them up. Sinn Féin recognises the need for investment, but we also recognise the need for responsibility. Public money must deliver public good. That means transparency and oversight through the Oireachtas. It means fairness for households who are struggling to pay their bills. It means strategic investment that supports housing, energy security and renewable growth, not blank cheques for corporate expansion. We cannot continue with the stop-start planning and the lack of scrutiny that has been left to happen for decades in this country. Sinn Féin's amendments would put in place the safeguards, oversight and fairness that have been missing for far too long. If the Government truly wants this Bill to mark a turning point for Ireland's energy future, it should accept these amendments next week because Ireland does not need more missed opportunities. We need a fair, transparent and affordable energy system, one that works for the people and not for profit.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

While Senator Collins was speaking, Deputy Tony McCormack and his guests were in the Gallery. They are gone now, but just to acknowledge that they were here. I understand that Senator Cosgrove is sharing time with Senator Stephenson. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I echo my fellow Senators' sentiments that we welcome that there is going to be rapid investment in ESB Networks, but it is about how and where this is spent and how it relates to the rest of Government policy. I will talk in particular about my own area and securing the supply in parts of the north west, which is the area that has been most severely affected by outages over the past 12 months. It means ensuring in the medium term that power lines are clear of possible disruption from falling trees. Leitrim is one of the most overforested counties in the State with 20.1% of land area planted with forestry in 2022.

I have brought up many times in the Seanad that the overreliance on shallow rooted giant Sitka spruce as a cash crop has caused social, economic and environmental problems, most immediately evident to the rest of the country through the disruption caused by Storm Darragh at the end of 2024, Storm Amy just last month and, most devastatingly, Storm Éowyn, which caused 768,000 customers to lose power on 24 January. By 11 February - nearly three weeks later - there were still 200 homes without power, mainly in Leitrim, Roscommon and Galway. To line up with Government policy and having some inter- or cross-departmental response to this, a Leitrim Observer article recently reported that the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, was advocating for the planting of Christmas trees under power lines. He said the rationale behind this was that these would be harvested before they become big enough to pose a threat to the power lines. However, many of the Minister's colleagues on Leitrim County Council pointed out how flawed this plan was. Councillor Paddy O'Rourke, who is a Fianna Fáil councillor, said that 25 years ago, enough Christmas trees had been planted to satisfy demand from a population of 20 million. These trees have now grown to maturity, and if they are under power lines, they pose a threat. A Sinn Féin councillor also raised the same issue of trees having been planted where problematic forestry had been cleared earlier this year. We can spend as much money as we like upgrading the ESB infrastructure, but unless we address the simple measures such as not planting trees underneath power lines, then we are not tackling this or taking it seriously. We in the north west know this more than ever.

The other element I wish to address is the growth in data centres, which my colleague Senator Collins referenced. They are using so much electricity that we are way off meeting our legally binding climate targets of reducing reliance on fossil fuels by 50% by 2030. Data centres currently use one fifth of all our electricity, which on projected use will rise to one third within the next few years. The pace of the growth of data centres is outstripping the work that we are doing towards the building of renewables. Data centres are using all the additional green energy we have generated over the past number of years, leaving nothing for society. We have upgrade projects in the north west - my area - such as the North-South interconnector, the north Connacht project and Flagford-Sligo capacity needs project. These should all be prioritised. These should make our grid stable for healthcare, residential customers and facilitate connections for newly constructed domestic dwellings. They should not be used to prioritise the building of more data centres. It is like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

The growth in data centres means that we are failing to decarbonise. We are generating more demand for fossil fuel-generated electricity. If we allow data centres to generate their own power, which has been talked about, and I have raised this because we in the north west are concerned about the use of that filthy LNG gas, we are going to compound this further. Of course we welcome the investment in the electricity grid, but we have to make sure that it is going to work cross-departmentally, that money can be spent wisely and that it chimes and is in accordance with our stated climate policy and our climate obligations that we are obliged to fulfil.

Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

This Bill represents a huge and welcome investment in our future energy supply and infrastructure and is desperately needed, so I welcome it. However, we have an issue in Ireland when it comes to equity and fairness in the electricity framework that we currently have. This legislation comes at us at a time when Ireland's electricity system is under significant pressure and households and small businesses are struggling with energy bills that remain far too high. Additional investment in the grid are welcome, but it cannot result in additional costs for consumers, as is usually the case. Often, we see consumers taking the hit on additional investment in the grid. People's electricity bills are soaring and families are making the decisions between heating and eating this winter. Families are still paying inflated prices long after wholesale energy costs have fallen. This is simply not good enough. Energy is not a luxury; it is a public good. It heats our homes, powers our hospitals and keeps our economy moving. It should never be treated as a commodity to be exploited but as an essential service that must serve the public interest first.

The intention of this Bill is welcome. It seeks to modernise our electricity supply arrangements to support renewables and ensure security of supply. However, we must be clear. The system as it stands is not working fairly for everybody. Storm Éowyn once again exposed the vulnerability of our network, particularly across rural Ireland, as we heard from Senator Cosgrove. Thousands were left without power, in some places for days, relying on families and neighbours around them and the goodwill of farmers who had generators for their business. They were relying on the goodwill of those around them. It is a stark reminder that the resilience of the grid must be a central part of any reform efforts. Rural communities cannot be left in the dark, whether that is literally or figuratively, every winter as severe weather hits. Our national grid is ageing. Investment has indeed lagged and renewable connections face long delays. At the same time, energy intensive projects, such as large data centres, continue to be approved without adequate assessment of their impact on supply, emissions and consumers' bills.

The reality is that current investment in the grid is ultimately going to benefit large corporations as energy is prioritised for data centres. We have 87 data centres in Ireland, maybe 11 under development and maybe another 30 with planning approved. We need to see more strategic management of data centres because, at the moment, that is not what is happening. Under current projections, 30% of our electricity demand will be coming from the data centre industry by 2030, within the next five years. That is compared with 2% to 3% of our European counterparts. That difference is significant, and it is concerning when it comes to domestic energy management needs. If we are serious about building a resilient and low carbon electricity system, then we have to do it in a way that is socially just. The transition to renewables cannot be at the expense of rural communities or families who are already struggling with high costs. Climate action must go hand in hand with fairness, and that is the principle that has guided the approach of the Social Democrats. While this investment in the grid is welcome, we need to be looking at embedding the public interest more firmly in how energy is generated, distributed and priced.

Dee Ryan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

An tAire is very welcome to the Seanad. It is great to have him back. I thank him for his ongoing engagement with Senators, and not just through his frequent presence in the Seanad Chamber. I know from stories from other Senators how hands-on and supportive he is on constituency matters, in particular roads projects that are very dear to us. Go raibh maith ag an Aire for his cross-party support on those projects.

I thank the Minister for his time and bringing forward this important Bill, which I strongly support. This Bill empowers the ESB to invest at the scale required for Ireland's clean energy transformation. It is legislation that matters for everyone, including families, businesses and communities. It will support key priorities in infrastructure, housing, competitiveness, investment, growth and climate action. We have a particular interest in and affinity with the ESB in Limerick and the mid-west. We are the home to the State's first pioneering renewable energy project at Ardnacrusha. We have strong ambitions and a keen focus on the development of the next phase and chapter in Ireland's renewable energy production, and that is the opportunity for floating offshore wind off the Shannon Estuary and the west coast.The programme for Government commits to delivering 9 GW of onshore wind, 8 GW of solar and at least 5 GW of offshore wind by 2030. Since 2020, we have made real progress on those ambitions. Our renewable share of electricity has risen from 40% to over 50%. I heard the Minister on the radio this morning making the point that in the last year or so, for the first time in decades - since the development of Ardnacrusha - the State has generated more electricity from renewable energy sources than from oil or coal. That is a significant national achievement and we must recognise the efforts that have been made to get us this far. Our ambitions for 2030 go further, though, with a target of 80% renewable energy with at least 5 GW from offshore wind in operation. To meet those targets, we must scale up faster than ever before. This capital investment, along with the ability for the ESB to draw down finance, means that the ESB has the public mandate and the financial means to build the infrastructure that private enterprise alone cannot deliver.

I have to talk about the Shannon Estuary. As the Minister is aware, we have the natural resources of our deep waters in the estuary and the strong winds on our Atlantic seaboard. We have the ambition to use that energy to meet our renewable energy targets in this country and to drive economic regeneration right up and down the west coast. It is a project I believe strongly in. I know the Minister does too, and I look forward to working with him in accelerating our progress toward that over the course of this Government. Without major reinforcement of the arteries of our energy system in the national grid, the renewable energy of the Shannon Estuary will never reach our homes, our industries or our neighbours. This Bill gives the ESB the ability to make that happen.

I must sound a note of caution. We must remember that this is not the first time that we have placed our faith in the Shannon and the west coast. I refer to the important power generation project the State took on at Ardnacrusha, using Lough Derg and the River Shannon to generate electricity. I have to bring to the Minister's attention, as he is no doubt aware, the concerns that have been raised about another project he is responsible for, the Shannon to Dublin water pipeline, and the proposed abstraction of water from Lough Derg. Critics warn that during periods of drought or low flow, this abstraction could reduce the water levels available to the Shannon system, with knock-on effects for the Ardnacrusha hydroplants, navigation, ecology and the river system. As legislators we have to ensure that energy generation, environmental stewardship and water management are treated as interdependent parts of one national system because they are. I look forward to discussing this with the Aire again.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Minister is welcome to the Chamber. This Bill is significant. It will enable the ESB to deliver the largest single expansion and reinforcement of our national electricity network in decades. It will allow the ESB to borrow and invest at competitive rates, strengthening both our grid and our energy security. As a councillor, on 25 November 2024, I had a motion before Roscommon County Council calling for investment in our electricity infrastructure. I am delighted to hear that the Minister is delivering this and that he was listening to that call and the calls of many other councillors nationwide. The level of investment is essential if we are to meet the 50% increase in electricity demand expected by 2035 and to support housing, growth in foreign direct investment and the transition to renewable energy. It is also intended to improve network resilience against future weather events, a point that resonates deeply with my part of the country.

I have spoken at length in this House on numerous occasions about the amount of time we have spent without power in west Roscommon and elsewhere in the western part of the country due to storm damage. During Storm Éowyn last February, 768,000 customers were left without power, some for up to three and a half weeks. I was delighted to hear the Minister announce the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025 on 29 July 2025. The idea of it was to bolster the storm resilience of the electricity grid. Yet, when I read the text before us, it does not go into as much detail as I would like to see on the provision of forestry corridors and on powers when it comes to vegetation management. I understand that separate legislation is still pending at the moment, and that delays matters, but people in rural Ireland cannot wait. We are facing into another winter of potential power outages and action needs to be taken.

I acknowledge that this Bill allows the ESB to issue new capital stock to be subscribed to by the Minister for Climate, Energy and Environment, and the Minister for public expenditure at a cost of €1.5 billion. Second, it raises the ESB's statutory borrowing limits from €12 billion to €17 billion to enable delivery of the PR6 investment programme. I am going back to the element that I was hoping to see in this and what communities in the west need, namely, grid resilience in forestry corridors, a compensation framework for affected landowners and a clear statutory mandate for vegetation management around power lines. I am tight for time but when I raised this in a Commencement matter earlier this month, I was referred to this Bill. This Bill was going to address all of these elements. I have heard that we have until tomorrow afternoon to look at some amendments for this. As someone who called for investment, I am fully supportive of the investment in the network, but the resilience that we need from constituents in the west of Ireland is something that I want to see.

I am supporting the Bill on Second Stage because it enables critical investment in our national grid, supports the energy transition and strengthens the ESB's financial foundations. I would like to see it quickly followed by forestry corridor and vegetation management amendments, as we were promised in July. I need to see a timeline in relation to that, if possible. We need a co-ordinated response to protect against storms like Storm Éowyn, Storm Floris and Storm Amy. Storm Floris was only a yellow warning, yet we still had power outages in the west of Ireland. We need a co-ordinated approach on this. I welcome the Bill. I support the Minister on this Bill, but I will have to look at an amendment that may include that tomorrow.

Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Minister is most welcome to the Chamber. As the Fine Gael spokesperson on infrastructure in this Chamber, I welcome this Bill. I acknowledge the investment of €1.5 billion into the ESB. I thank, most sincerely, the men and women across the ESB for the fantastic work that they do in ensuring power supply to each one of us across the country. I recognise the increase in the borrowing limit up to €17 billion. There are two points I want to highlight relating to my own area in Wexford. The first one is the average length of time it is taking for the ESB to connect a one-off house in the countryside. I appreciate that there are difficulties at times with getting access to power lines, cables and so on to hook up a new-build home. As the Minister is well aware from his previous role, we appear to have an issue in Wexford where it is taking a disproportionate length of time to connect a new build one-off house in Wexford than perhaps we anecdotally hear in other parts of the country in similar rural areas.

Second, I want to highlight the need for greater engagement between the Department and local authorities around the length of time it is taking for large-scale solar applications to go through the planning process and get constructed, and the impact that it is having on the local rural road network. There is an issue when it comes to putting in the cables and the wires, and hooking up between the solar farm and back to the grid. It appears to me that local authorities, the Department and the ESB could work a bit better to try to speed that process up for local residents living in areas where these large solar farms are, like in my own county in Wexford, particularly in south Wexford, where this seems to be an issue that is coming up again and again. Perhaps the Minister will take an interest in that area.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank all Senators for their contributions. There are general points and a large degree of commonality within specific points. First, I thank Senators for their support and understand about the urgent nature of this legislation to be passed.

Senator Clifford-Lee said that this investment will enable the development of critical infrastructure to underpin the NDP delivery across all our different areas of delivery.She is absolutely correct that we have to look at transport, housing, water infrastructure - all of those various things. Like other Senators, she also raised the point about affordability. Ireland's energy prices for consumers are too high. We are working on that through the national energy affordability task force. We are about the eighth highest in Europe for electricity. It is not where we want to be. We did bring forward measures supported by the Senator and Government colleagues in respect of immediate measures. We published the national energy affordability task force interim report, and brought forward things like the 9% VAT rate, a permanent change up to 2030. It saves about €100 per annum, which is not insignificant, and it means we do not have to go back every year. That has been agreed. There is the expansion of the increased fuel allowance, a very targeted payment to about 460,000 households, to recipients of the working family payment, about another 50,000 households. I have engaged directly with the energy providers. I met the four largest providers myself and will be meeting the remainder. At my request, they have all agreed to re-establish hardship funds, which is good. The energy providers need to play their part too.

Electrification and further electrification of our grid will lead to lower prices, reducing our dependence on fossil and imported gas in particular. As we know, Corrib is a diminishing supply. It is a fossil fuel that will diminish and will probably not provide any additional gas after 2035 or 2040. About 70% to 80% of our gas then comes through the pipelines from Scotland. That is a risk but it is a dependency on fossil. Thankfully, renewables are scaling up. We are the best in Europe at integration of renewables into the grid, notwithstanding some valid points that Senators from Opposition parties have made. This is trying to be useful, but if Senator Collins does a quick Google of the Dutch energy system - she referred to ACM - she will see the severe difficulties they have with grid congestion in Holland right now. It is not a criticism but just based on an analysis of that model, but I would not be inclined to follow it. We will deal with any proposed amendments next Tuesday. They will certainly be debated.

There has been a discussion around large energy users and data centres, too. I expect the large energy users policy to be published shortly, because it does need to be planned out. That is going to be very important. The Government is positive on data and new data. We have to be at the cutting edge of new technologies, particularly around AI and what comes next. We are in a fortunate position, I would say. Our colleague from the Social Democrats was quite critical of the number of data centres. That is foreign direct investment in this country, underpinning tens of thousands of jobs. A lot of the large energy users and data holders here are among the biggest companies investing here, employing people in good jobs and paying them. The idea we can turn around and say we do not want this is not something I would stand over. To be fair to Government parties and our Independent colleagues, we have been very clear in the programme for Government that we want a plan-led approach and we want to continue to enable new data to be located in Ireland.

Price review 6, which will be published next month by the CRU, takes into account that future industrial growth, not just in data centres but economic growth, and also underpins the investment required to deliver the 300,000-plus houses we plan to build between now and the end of the decade. It is not one or the other. There has been debate suggesting it was either data centres or housing but that is not correct. I do know of the instance of those 80 homes. There was a delay on the ground there. There is no grid constraint with regard to housing connection. The constraint in some areas has been down to administrative issues but it is not just that. We do have a dispersed way of living in Ireland, too. I get the point Senator Cathal Byrne has raised about how long it takes for connections to one-off housing. Senators will also know how long it took in some areas, particularly rural areas, to reconnect post Storm Éowyn, because our grid is incredibly dispersed, particularly compared with European colleagues. That is a reality of how we live. We are looking at other mechanisms there.

All Senators, including Senators Dee Ryan, Duffy, Scahill, Collins, Cosgrove, Stephenson and Cathal Byrne, raised the resilience issue. We saw what Storm Éowyn, Storm Darragh and others did and the impact they had. These weather events are far more prevalent, as Senator Clifford-Lee said in her opening remarks. We have to invest in the resilience of our grid system. That requires tens of thousands of pole replacements, new energy infrastructure in the form of cabling and so on. We are not on our own in this. At the Energy Council, when I am discussing matters with other energy and environment ministers across Europe, it is clear that all of Europe is investing in the grid. Europe's grid in the main is about 40 years old. In some countries it is even older, so this type of grid replacement is needed.

Thankfully, price review 5 was done. The point was made by a couple of Senators about how we can oversee the delivery of this. Price review 6 will be like a capital plan. It will be project based. Our challenge will be to deliver it all, to be frank. Thankfully we are in an economic position, thanks to the hard work of our citizens and good economic management by successive Governments, where we can provide equity investments through the ICNF and by using the surpluses we have had over the period to invest in infrastructure like the grid. Because we are giving the equity investment, it means there is less requirement for borrowing. The credit rating of ESB has been mentioned. It is a very strong rating but after this was announced, it increased from A- positive to A positive. That will reduce the cost of borrowing. This is good.

I have not covered every matter raised here but I have taken note of all of them. Senator Boyhan asked for a briefing document on the community benefit fund. Communities are critical in this and in respect of renewables it is crucial that there are community benefit funds that work for people. We will provide that briefing note in advance of Committee and remaining Stages next week. I genuinely thank Senators for their interest and input. I have taken note of the points that have been raised and look forward to concluding this piece of work next week.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Next Tuesday.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Is mian liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Aire as teacht isteach sa Teach inniu agus páirt a ghlacadh sa díospóireacht. When is it proposed to sit again?

Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Next Tuesday at 2.30 p.m.