Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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191. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on the recent doubling in costs of wood pellets; his views on whether this is a matter which needs to be addressed urgently given the efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of households with wood pellet stoves; and if any measures are to be introduced which will see an immediate reduction in the cost of wood pellets. [62167/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I have no function in the setting of retail prices for wood pellets.  The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine provides financial assistance to the Wood Fuel Quality Assurance (WFQA) Scheme, which is an all-island scheme established to increase consumer confidence in wood fuel products sold in Ireland. Forest owners and forestry contractors, through sustainable forest management practices, produce renewable fuels such as firewood, wood chip, wood pellets, and wood briquettes. These fuels are certified to ISO and EU standards through the Scheme, and the production of indigenous wood biomass has a crucial role to play in helping Ireland meet renewable energy targets through fossil fuel substitution to generate heat and electricity.The Climate Action Plan 2021 acknowledges the need for the solid biomass resource capacity to double in the next decade, and the need to support the mobilisation of timber for utilisation in the processing and biomass sector. The Government will continue to encourage policies, steps and measures to increase the use of wood and wood products in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

However, in terms of reducing the carbon footprint of domestic heating, the National Heat Study, published in February 2022, found that heat pumps are the optimal decarbonisation path for domestic heating systems, with district heating also identified as a competitive option that can be widely deployed.