Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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218. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the reasons for the failure to meet the deadline for completing the Climate Action Plan 2024, sub action EL/24/22, to implement enhanced emissions reporting framework for electricity emissions for large energy users, by the end of 2024. [37143/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Climate Action Plan 2024, sub action EL/24/22, contains an action for the implementation of enhanced emissions reporting framework for electricity emissions for large energy users which would allow more detailed matching of their energy consumption with renewable generation and that will promote and provide additional incentives for greater efficiency and usage of lower carbon energy sources. 

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) was assigned to lead the execution of a study to inform the development of a reporting framework. SEAI convened a Steering Group, including the CRU, system operators, large energy users, enterprise development agencies and relevant Government Departments, to assist with specifying and guiding the study. Following a competitive tendering process, SEAI appointed Frontier Economics to complete the study and develop approaches to make recommendations for an electricity emissions matching framework. 

Following the completion of the study, the SEAI published a Report in December 2024 on a Large Energy User electricity emissions reporting framework. This Report sets out high-level recommendations for how such a reporting framework could be structured. The intention and timeline set out in Climate Action Plan to have a full reporting scheme based on the recommendations in the SEAI Report in place by Quarter 4 of 2024 was noted by SEAI to be extremely challenging. Implementing the framework in practice will present several challenges, including data complexity, market readiness, adoption costs and regulatory alignment, that will need careful consideration. The Department is reviewing the SEAI Report and are in the process of establishing a working group to evaluate its recommendations and develop the manner of implementation.