Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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401. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for an update on his Department’s analysis of the price differential between the price of fossil fuels and the price of renewables, as committed to in the Climate Action Plan 2025 and due in Q3 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55513/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Last year I published the Roadmap for the Decarbonisation of Industrial Heat. It outlines the necessary trajectory to meet our binding greenhouse gas abatement targets for industry, and decarbonise our manufacturing sectors, including the cement, metals, food, drink and life sciences sectors. The Roadmap sets out the key policy interventions to decarbonise heat use by industry, including the supports available to companies, the regulations to promote decarbonisation, and the enabling measure that will facilitate the transition.

Alongside the publication of the Roadmap, I announced that €300 million is being made available to drive the decarbonisation of Ireland’s industrial emitters over the coming years. The fund is already being used by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to support client companies to reduce their industrial emissions between now and 2030. At the end of Q3 2025, 51 projects were approved at value of €170 million.

Reaching our decarbonisation targets will require businesses to make investments in new processes, shifting away from those that rely on fossil fuels and other unsustainable practices. We are working with them more closely than ever to ensure decarbonisation happens in a way that improves the competitiveness and resilience of our economy, rather than harms it.

There is now growing evidence of a decoupling of industry emissions from economic growth, with emissions having decreased by 4.6% in 2024 relative to 2023 and overall, by 13.6% relative to 2018. Fuel switching away from more carbon intensive fossil fuels to lower carbon and renewable fuels is driving this change. We now need a further shift to electrification in manufacturing processes and improved uptake of renewable bioenergy sources such as biomass and biomethane to deliver on the national abatement targets for industry.

In line with the Roadmap for the Decarbonisation of Industrial Heat, my Department has been assessing measures to address the ‘spark gap’ – the difference in the cost between of a unit of energy from fossil fuels and a unit of energy from electricity. While capital grants for heat pumps and other electrified heat technologies such as electric boilers are available through state agencies like Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and the SEAI, the higher operating cost of electric heat technologies can pose challenges to the business case for investing, even with efficiency gains.

This is not solely an issue being faced by industry, but also by other heat sectors that we need to decarbonise to achieve our binding climate targets, including the residential, public sector, and commercial buildings sectors. In order to fully understand this issue across all sectors, and to examine the cross-cutting nature any potential solutions, my Department has been working with the Heat and Built Environment Taskforce and the National Energy Affordability Taskforce to consider the potential steps that could be taken to alleviate this challenge. It is a complex policy problem and will require careful consideration. Engagement with colleagues across the Government system is ongoing.

My Department, and key state agencies, are continuing to work with industry to unlock further decarbonisation opportunities and to ensure that all businesses in Ireland are activated and engaged in the green transition. This is a crucial to ensuring that Ireland’s economy remains competitive, resilience and sustainable as we progress towards our target to be net zero by 2050.