Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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189. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the process and timescale under which Ireland will transpose and implement the RED III Directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36149/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The third Renewable Energy Directive (RED III, EU Directive 2023/2413) entered into force in November 2023. RED III provides the legal framework for the increased deployment of renewable energy across the EU by 2030. RED III is a wide-ranging Directive which includes requirements to simplify and accelerate the permit-granting procedure for renewable energy projects in addition to requirements designed to increase the share of renewables across the electricity, heat and transport sectors, as well as in industry and buildings.

While my Department is coordinating transposition of RED III, transposition and implementation of the Directive requires coordinated action across a range of Government Departments, Agencies and other bodies. A programme of work is underway to transpose the requirements of RED III as soon as possible, with a particular immediate focus on requirements for renewable energy permitting.

Ireland is supportive of ambitious efforts to boost the deployment of renewable energy at EU level. The Programme for Government reaffirms the Government’s commitment to making renewable energy a foundation for growth and development, and Ireland has committed to achieving a 43% share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption by 2030 to contribute to the EU’s overall target under RED III. Transposition of RED III is one of a broad suite of measures being undertaken by Government to support the increased uptake of renewable energy.

RED III is a complex Directive and Ireland, along with the majority of EU Member States, has faced challenges in implementing the necessary requirements by the required deadlines. The majority of RED III provisions had a transposition deadline of 21 May 2025, but there was an earlier deadline of 1 July 2024 for the permitting provisions of RED III. Ireland has received a letter of formal notice from the European Commission in relation to the permitting provisions of RED III.

Transposition of the permitting requirements requires a significant and complex body of work comprising legislative changes to the Irish planning system and changes to established practice across other permitting authorities, notably in relation to connection to the grid.

The Accelerating Renewable Electricity Taskforce, established by my Department to accelerate delivery of the renewable generation and electricity infrastructure required to underpin Ireland’s decarbonisation efforts, has provided a useful forum for advancing coordinated implementation of the RED III permitting requirements across relevant Government Departments and State Bodies.

Specifically, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is in the final stages of drafting a Statutory Instrument under the European Communities Act 1972 to transpose the RED III permitting requirements in so far as they relate to the planning system. In addition, in September 2024 the Commission for Regulation of Utilities published a new electricity generation and system services connection policy which is designed to align grid permitting timelines with the requirements of RED III. The first window for applications under this new policy is expected to close at the end of September 2025.

Further legal and technical work is being undertaken to ensure implementation of the permitting requirements as soon as possible. In parallel, steps are being taken to transpose the other RED III requirements with a deadline of May 2025. The progression of these measures has been affected by the need to focus on open infringement proceedings in relation to RED II and the permitting provisions of RED III. It is anticipated that transposition of these provisions will require a range of legislative and policy/administrative measures to be undertaken by the State. This includes the drafting of secondary legislation, which is already underway in my Department and is very advanced in the Department of Transport, to address requirements for renewables in the heat and transport sectors respectively.