Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)
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70. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will provide an update regarding Ireland’s post-2030 wind energy strategy; if work is underway to develop a policy document in this regard; when he expects that work to be complete and a policy document published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18066/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Work is ongoing in my Department to develop both offshore and onshore wind energy strategies.

The Future Framework for Offshore Renewable Energy, published in May 2024, lays out Ireland’s strategy for developing Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE), including wind, post-2030. Ireland has set ambitious targets in this area, which will mostly consist of fixed offshore wind in the near-term.

There were 29 actions identified in the Future Framework as important for the future development of ORE and work is ongoing on these across Government, under the direction of the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce. An update to the policy, showing progress made so far and new actions as necessary, will be published before the end of 2025.

The SEAI is required under Climate Action Plan 2023 to report to DECC on an evidence-based decarbonisation pathway for the electricity system to support Climate Action Plans, inform carbon budgets and provide a basis for future development of the electricity system to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The Decarbonised Electricity System Study (DESS) was designed and is being implemented to meet this requirement. The first phase of DESS involved expert elicitation on topics such as onshore wind, offshore wind, and solar PV. This phase has been completed and results published. The second phase, involving a multi-criteria decision analysis study, will commence shortly and run until 2026, when the final output on an evidence-based pathway to decarbonise the electricity system by 2050 will be published.

The recently published Programme for Government 2025 – Securing Ireland’s Future includes a commitment to prioritise the publication of the Wind Energy Development Guidelines (WEDGs) for onshore. DHLGH, in conjunction with DECC, is undertaking a focused review of the 2006 WEDGs. The review will address key aspects of the Guidelines including noise, setback distance, community obligation, community dividend and grid connections.