Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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197. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of homes that were connected to the fossil gas grid fin each of the years 2019-2023, in tabular form. [13370/23]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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198. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of non-daily metered businesses that were connected to the fossil gas grid for each of the years 2019-2023, in tabular form. [13371/23]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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199. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of daily metered businesses that were connected to the fossil gas grid for each of the years 2019-2023, in tabular form. [13372/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 197, 198 and 199 together.

The introduction of the Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) standard has seen a 70% reduction in the emissions of new buildings. Oil and liquid petroleum gas are no longer used as the primary heating source in new dwellings, with heat pumps now used in 84% of new dwellings, a percentage which will continue to increase as a result of the 2019 NZEB regulations, so that all fossil fuels will be effectively phased out in new dwellings by the end of 2023 and will be completely replaced by renewable energy heat pumps as the main heating system.

It is planned to implement a similar phase-out of fossil fuel boilers through performance-based regulations for new non-residential buildings and existing buildings undergoing major renovation (where more than 25% of the external surface of the building is renovated).

NZEB Regulations introduced in 2018 for new buildings other than dwellings have helped to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuel boilers in these buildings by introducing renewable energy requirements for all new non-residential buildings and reducing their energy requirements and carbon emissions by 60%. It is intended that Building Regulations will be further updated to adopt the 2023 cost optimal calculations no later than Q1 2025, three years in advance of the statutory requirement of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

Gas Networks Ireland have provided the following new connection data for 2019 to 2023 (up to end of February).

* Homes include both new houses and existing houses connecting to the gas network.

**A separate line-item figure for Communal Heating Scheme Apartments has been provided as these are typically recorded as NDM business meter fits.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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200. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of community heating schemes that were connected to the fossil gas grid for each of the years 2019-2023, in tabular form; and the number of apartments associated with those schemes. [13373/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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District heating schemes are large-scale systems that are supplied by one or several centralised or decentralised heat sources and serve multiple buildings and multiple customers. Group, or communal, heating schemes are smaller-scale systems that supply single buildings or complexes. End users in group or communal heating schemes are supplied with heat rather than fuel and the heat supplier in these schemes purchases the fuel at commercial rates, primarily natural gas.

My Department is currently liaising with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) to ensure the development of an appropriate regulatory framework for district heating. During this process, the CRU will assess the specific regulatory needs of group heating schemes to ensure their inclusion in a regulatory framework, as a priority.

As specific data on the sector has not been collected, the information sought is not available.