Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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236. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will clarify the Government’s position regarding LNG and address a number of matters (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29931/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I recently received Government approval to proceed with the development of a State-led strategic gas emergency reserve. The delivery of a temporary gas reserve is critical to Ireland’s energy security as we continue to transition to indigenous, clean renewable energy. Crucially, the strategic gas emergency reserve will also ensure compliance with EU standards and regulation.

The strategic gas emergency reserve is not intended for commercial use. The liquified natural gas will be held in reserve for use in the event of a significant disruption to gas supplies and will be divested when no longer required to secure Ireland's energy systems. The emergency reserve will be in the form of a Floating Storage and Regassification Unit (FSRU), to be owned on behalf of the State by the system operator, Gas Networks Ireland (GNI). This policy decision ensures the risk of stranded fossil fuel assets is reduced, the reserve will be used for emergency use, and does not support increased gas demand with a view to minimising impact on greenhouse gas emissions. The operation of the strategic gas emergency reserve will be underpinned by policy and legislation that my Department is progressing as a matter of priority.

The 2021 'Policy Statement on the Importation of Fracked Gas' notes that the statement will remain in place pending the completion of the review of Ireland’s energy security. The approval of this Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve marks that completion. The Policy Statement on the Importation of Fracked Gas no longer remains in place.

The matters requested for comment refer to a private project which is currently the subject of an active application for consideration before An Bord Pleanala and it therefore would not be appropriate for me to comment at this time.

Any application for fossil fuel infrastructure in Ireland will be subject to the planning, consenting and regulatory approvals by relevant bodies and the provision of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2021 will apply.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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237. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the new levy (details supplied) that will added to energy bills to pay for the planned FRSU; the amount of revenue this levy will be required to generate each year; if any analysis has been done on the additional cost to households; the amount the average the household energy bill will increase by through the introduction of this levy; the way in which the levy be distributed between domestic and non-domestic consumers; and the levies that will be placed on large energy users. [29943/25]

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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240. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on the proposed new levy on customer's energy bills to pay for the strategic emergency gas reserve; if he plans to carry out any consultation; the amount he anticipates this levy will cost the average household annually; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29965/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 237 and 240 together.

In March of this year, I received Government approval to proceed with the development of a State-led strategic gas emergency reserve. The delivery of a temporary gas reserve is critical to Ireland’s energy security as we continue to transition to indigenous, clean renewable energy. Crucially, the strategic gas emergency reserve will also ensure compliance with EU standards and regulation.

The emergency reserve will be in the form of a Floating Storage and Regassification Unit to be owned on behalf of the State by the system operator, Gas Networks Ireland (GNI). The reserve will protect Ireland’s economy and citizens from the potential catastrophic impact of a significant disruption to gas supplies.

The standard approach for cost recovery for security of supply measures and investments to meet EU regulations is through the existing regulatory framework and achieved over the lifetime of the asset. Identifying opportunities to minimise the impact of this cost on energy consumers is a key workstream of this project.

Gas Networks Ireland will now progress the project through detailed design and market engagement to determine the final costs to deliver this strategic gas emergency reserve. Every effort will be made to minimise the cost of this new strategic infrastructure for both domestic and non domestic energy consumers.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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238. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the breakdown of how the revenue generated from the temporary solidarity contribution has been allocated; the breakdown of amount that has been spent and of how much has yet to be allocated; the reason this revenue has not been allocated or spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29950/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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On 17th July 2023, the Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Temporary Solidarity Contribution) Act 2023 passed through the Houses of the Oireachtas and was signed into law by the President.

In accordance with Council Regulation 2022/1854, the Act introduces a temporary solidarity contribution to fossil fuel companies on earned unexpected surplus profits (“windfall gains”) for the years 2022 and 2023.

The proceeds from the temporary solidarity contribution were €167.2m for 2023 and €99.7m for 2024, giving a total of approx. €270m raised. This was within within the range of estimated proceeds. These funds were used to support measures for final energy customers, introduced in Budgets 2024 and 2025.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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239. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the breakdown of how the revenue generated from the cap on market revenues has been allocated; the breakdown of the amount that has been spent; the breakdown of the amount that has yet to be allocated; the reason this revenue has not been allocated or spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29951/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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On 17 November 2023, the Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Act 2023 passed through the Houses of the Oireachtas and was signed into law by the President.

In accordance with Council Regulation 2022/1854, the Act introduced a cap on market revenues from the sale of electricity produced from certain sources for the period beginning on 1 December 2022 and ending on 30 June 2023.

The estimated proceeds from the cap on market revenues ranged from €80 million to €150 million. The proceeds from the cap on market revenues were approximately €188.9 million, above the upper range of the estimated proceeds.

In compliance with Article 10 of the Regulation, measures to be considered for allocation from the fund must be clearly defined, transparent, proportionate, targeted, non-discriminatory, verifiable and not counteract the obligation to reduce gross electricity demand.

To date, I have approved the allocation of the €27 million to support the non-domestic solar scheme to the end of 2025. In line with the legislation, disbursement of funds remain subject to consent from the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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241. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if his officials have conducted a standalone cost benefit analysis of the risks and opportunities arising from high volumes of the State's electricity being consumed by data centres including but not limited to its negative impact on housing delivery targets and climate targets weighed against potential benefits such as modest levels of employment in data centres and increased corporate tax revenue. [29987/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government outlines the Government's policy position in relation energy policy, housing policy, FDI growth and the many other goals and objectives of the Government. It reflects the balance between the many opportunities and challenges facing the country and the actions that will be taken over the lifetime of the Government. It recognises that increased and unprecedented investment and delivery in our grid and expanding our energy generation capacity is a priority.

While in the near-term already contracted data centres will be accommodated on the grid, for the medium-term, the Government has committed to developing a plan that will, inter alia, guide the development of plan-led data centre infrastructure in alignment with our decarbonisation objectives and growing Ireland’s knowledge-based economy that will provide certainty for the sector over the medium-term.

To inform future evidence-based policy on data centre development in Ireland, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment has procured independent experts to undertake in-depth research and analysis to provide a detailed view of the economic and societal benefits arising from data centres in Ireland. This study will look to identify opportunities for Ireland to evolve our data centre landscape in a way that optimises future economic and societal returns as well as providing insights to guide policy on future data centre development in Ireland.

Moreover, the electricity system operators, EirGrid & ESB Networks, assess the various expected future demands on the system including from, economic and population growth, housing, electric vehicle and heat pump targets, as part of their network development plans. These network development plans form a vital input into the system operators submissions to the price review process which sets out the level of investment required over the next 5 years to ensure our grid can meet the various drivers of growth.

CRU is currently reviewing the proposals from both ESB Networks and EirGrid in terms of their investment requirements. The submissions made to the CRU propose a significant uplift to the investment required in terms of both distribution and transmission costs to support the requirements of a growing population and economy, the exact level of this will be part of the CRU’s final determination.

The Programme for Government 2025 seeks to address the challenges of balancing energy needs by committing to scale up investment in critical infrastructure and our electricity grid which will be advantageous for customers and enhance the data centre and digital economy footprint to support continued FDI investment.