Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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98. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to tackle the use of the so-called dirty fuels across the country. [9945/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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On 31 October 2022 I introduced new regulations on the sale of solid fuels for domestic heating in Ireland. They introduced minimum standards that apply across all solid fuels, to ensure that the most polluting can no longer be made available on the Irish market and to assist the public in transitioning to less polluting alternatives.

My Department has engaged extensively and continues to engage with all Local Authorities with regard to enforcement of the new regulations, developing guidance and training, and supporting the sharing of best practice in relation to a range of legislative obligations that are under the remit of the Local Authorities. A workshop for Local Authorities was held last October, in advance of the regulations taking effect, and a further workshop is to take place in March. In addition, a detailed guidance document on enforcement of the new regulations has been developed and circulated to all Local Authorities, and further training will be provided later this year.

I have also made grant funding available to support Local Authorities through a Solid Fuels Enforcement Pilot Scheme to support innovation and enhanced enforcement of the new regulations. We will continue to work with the sector in the coming months to provide further co-ordination and support as appropriate.