According to the 2024 Mario Draghi report on European competitiveness, Ireland is among the slowest countries in the EU for permitting wind and solar projects. Changing the energy system involves building – whether flood defences to protect homes, or wind farms to generate power. In most credible pathways to a secure, affordable, and low-carbon energy system, three things happen. The regulatory thicket needs pruning, with the energy regulator’s mandate aligned to the outcome we want: clean, secure and affordable energy for all. If Ireland wants to prosper in the coming years and decades, it must relearn how to build – and do so fast.
