Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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161. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to advance a district heating system in the city of Dublin; and his plans to legislate for a role for the climatic research unit in the context of existing district heating systems. [48192/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Dublin District Heating Scheme was awarded funding under the Climate Action Plan and Dublin City Council is, with the support of other organisations such as the City of Dublin Energy Management Agency (CoDEMA) and the National Development Finance Agency, working on delivery of the scheme. More broadly, my Department established a District Heating Steering Group in February, which draws together expertise and experience relevant to district heating from a number of public sector stakeholders. The Steering Group has met on eight occasions to date and is currently in the process of drafting its Report to Government, in which it will make recommendations to advance district heating projects in the State. A Research and Policy Insights Working Group was also established to advance in-depth examination of the research needs of the sector. The Working group is chaired by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and reports to the wider Steering Group.

I remain committed to the development of the appropriate regulatory and legislative basis necessary for the expansion of district heating in Ireland and my Department continues to engage with relevant stakeholders in order to accelerate utilisation of this technology in the context of decarbonising of the built environment.