Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill – General Scheme

Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O'Brien has secured government approval for revisions to the General Scheme of the Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. This legislation will provide a regulatory framework to enable the roll-out of district heating, contributing to the decarbonisation of Ireland's heating sector and helping to meet national climate targets.

District heating uses insulated water-pipe networks to deliver heated water from centralised heat sources to networks of residential, commercial and public sector buildings.

The Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill will introduce consumer protections for existing and new district heating and communal heating customers, through price regulation of supplier tariffs. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) will have powers to regulate the sector to ensure that providers have regard to vulnerable customers and have appropriate customer complaints processes in place. The CRU will also be granted a range of sanctions to pursue heat undertakings that fail to comply with the conditions of their licence.

To drive the growth of district heating in Ireland, the revised General Scheme also provides greater policy and regulatory certainty to potential project sponsors and investors. This is in keeping with the recommendations of the District Heating Steering Group, which have been adopted under the Climate Action Plan.

Accelerating the development of district heating is a key commitment in the Programme for Government. It forms part of the government's wider ambition to future-proof Ireland's built environment, while delivering cleaner, more efficient energy solutions for communities across the country.

Minister O'Brien brought several revisions to the General Scheme to Cabinet this week, which were approved. These included:

• Amendment of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 to assign all functions relating to the regulation of heat networks to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU)
• A legal basis for providing Exchequer funding to the CRU from voted expenditure for the purpose of regulating the heat sector. The CRU will be enabled to apply a levy to the heat sector, once sufficiently developed.
• Introduction of a step-in, principles-based approach to price regulation, and consumer protection requirements such as vulnerable customer registers, customer charters, codes of practice and complaint handling procedures
• An expanded range of powers and administrative sanctions for the CRU
• Power to approve the District Heat Network Development Plan is transferred from the CRU to the Minister
• Existing heat undertakings will be required to register with the CRU while an enduring licensing system is developed
• Specification of functions of the interim Heat Network Authority
• Disincentives to investment are removed to encourage private sector involvement in building district heating
• New provisions for the opening of roads reflecting the precedent of the Water Services Act 2007
• Public buildings are not required to wait for any new public procurement methodologies before assessing the feasibility of connecting to district heating

To date, government has supported 2 district heating projects in Ireland. The Tallaght District Heating Project, which is now operational, was developed by South Dublin County Council and received a total of €4.92 million funding from the Climate Action Fund (CAF).

Dublin City Council is leading the development of the Dublin District Hearing Project. The CAF has allocated €50 million funding to the Dublin District Heating Project, which will use waste heat generated by the Dublin Waste to Energy plant in Poolbeg.

In July 2025, the Minister approved a further €5 million from the CAF to support pre-construction of new district heating projects and as part of the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment's Sectoral Capital Plan for 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. €50-100 million of Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund (ICNF) funding was allocated to support the construction of district heating projects.