Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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3. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he is aware of the concerns of the liquid fuel home heating sector that the obligation rates planned for the forthcoming renewable heat obligation are too low to have a meaningful impact on carbon emissions and its view that a more ambitious target of a 20% blend would be equivalent to deploying 160,000 heat pumps overnight, but at current rates this would take 26 years to achieve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38273/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The development of the Renewable Heat Obligation (RHO) is a key priority for Government and a draft RHO high-level scheme has now been finalised. As part of the scheme development process, and in consultation with industry and key stakeholders, an extensive examination of the heat sector and the potential cost and availability of renewable fuels to meet the obligation has been carried out.

Under current proposals, the RHO will obligate suppliers of all fossil fuels used for heating purposes to ensure that a proportion of the energy they supply is renewable. As such, all renewable fuels used for heat that satisfy the sustainability criteria of the Renewable Energy Directive will be considered eligible for certification under the scheme.

I will shortly submit the draft RHO Heads of Bill to Government alongside the draft RHO high-level scheme which will set out the introductory obligation rate across all fuel types in the first two years of the scheme. It is envisaged that a full review of scheme's performance, including in relation to the cost and availability of fuels to meet the obligation, will be carried out ahead of any rate increase.

The National Heat Study recommended that heat pumps are the optimal decarbonisation path for heating systems in decarbonising buildings. However, the study also recognised the potential role for sustainable bioenergy for buildings that require alternative routes to decarbonisation. The Programme for Government commits to further investigation of solutions for older homes still using oil to switch to renewable heating systems, and consideration of the use of sustainable bioliquids to reduce emissions from existing home boilers where deep retrofits are not possible in the short term.

These commitments are framing the work underway to develop a Heat Policy Statement and the Roadmap to Phase Out Fossil Fuel heating systems. A draft statement, informed by the findings of the National Heat Study, has been prepared by my Department and has undergone extensive consultation with other Government Departments and Agencies. A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Report is being completed, and a public consultation on the SEA Report and the draft Heat Policy Statement will be undertaken shortly. Following completion of the consultation process, my Department will submit the draft Heat Policy Statement to Government for approval and publication.