The considerable potential of solar panels to reduce Ireland\u2019s reliance on fossil fuels \u2013 and bring down energy bills for households and businesses \u2013 continues to be a blind spot for this Government, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on energy, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cSimon Harris revealed over the weekend that the Government is exploring the possibility of one-off payments towards environmentally friendly energy measures, such as heat pumps and efficient cars. While helping people invest in renewables is a positive thing, it is unfortunate it has taken a global oil and gas supply crisis to concentrate Government minds.<\/p>\n
\u201cNotably, the T\u00e1naiste\u2019s comments contained one glaring omission \u2013 the largely untapped potential of solar power to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and tackle soaring energy costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarlier this month, the D\u00e1il debated a Social Democrats\u2019 motion calling on the Government to adopt our \u2018Solar for All\u2019 plan. Our proposal includes a doubling of grants for solar installation to \u20ac3,600, and the inclusion of solar panels in the \u2018Warmer Homes Scheme\u2019 to help families cut electricity costs by an average of \u20ac450 a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp to a million homes in Ireland are deemed suitable for solar panels and a nationwide installation programme could be rolled out relatively quickly. This is something we have been calling for since 2022, when the outbreak of war in Ukraine caused a major international energy shock.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we need more than vague assurances from Simon Harris that further measures to encourage households to switch to renewables will be considered \u2013 we need concrete action now.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrants for hybrid heat pumps \u2013 which can be conditional on homes having existing high BER energy ratings \u2013 were already increased earlier this year, so the T\u00e1naiste is really just talking up a measure that is largely in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cIreland will continue to be laggards when it comes to renewable energy unless there is a major shift in Government policy. This will put us at risk of billions in EU non-compliance fines if we fail to meet our legally binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur lack of progress in this area is best exemplified by the fact that the country was generating more offshore wind energy 20 years ago than it does today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe endless delays are inexcusable. The Government must do more than just pay lip service to renewables.\u201d<\/p>\n
April 27, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The considerable potential of solar panels to reduce Ireland\u2019s reliance on fossil fuels \u2013 and bring down energy bills for households and businesses \u2013 continues to be a blind spot for this Government, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on energy, said: \u201cSimon Harris revealed over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12551,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[405,539,268,7,835],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","category-energy","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release","category-renewables"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n