Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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96. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the take-up of the Green Transition Fund incentives to decarbonise industrial heating; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21385/23]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department is actively pursuing opportunities for decarbonisation across the enterprise base and integrating climate action into all aspects of the Department and its agencies’ activities. We will foster strong, resilient businesses, that are successful and sustainable, while meeting our sector’s climate targets.

The Green Transition Fund was launched in June 2022. It is designed to specifically to address manufacturing combustion emissions from our industrial sector, to accelerate the uptake of carbon-neutral heating in manufacturing businesses. It provides manufacturing businesses the foundation they need to begin their transition to low carbon production processes and through investment in carbon abating capital equipment and technologies.

In Budget 2022, Government announced that €55 million would be made available under the National Recovery & Resilience Plan for this Green Transition Fund. The budget is split into two streams, the Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund (€30m) and the Climate Planning Fund for Business (€25m) which will both run from 2022 and 2025.

The Climate Planning Fund for Business provides businesses support to develop a plan to identify how best to remove reliance on fossil fuels in their business. The offers being provided under the CPFB will support companies to accelerate their awareness of CO₂abatement opportunities, build capability and put in place sustainability plans.

The Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund provides funding to manufacturing businesses to invest in carbon neutral heating processes, smart metering and energy monitoring, and research and development. Up to €1 million is available for businesses to upgrade their processes through this stream.

The table below outlines the funding approved to companies up to 5^thMay 2023 through the Green Transition Fund. This is a new relatively new fund it is expecting that the level of demand grow significantly throughout 2023.

For larger projects that are supported through this fund, it is anticipated that expenditure will be mainly incurred during the second half of the period. These are large capital projects, with drawdown of funding likely to be a year or more after project approval.