Ireland ‘enthusiastic’ about second interconnector with France

Ireland is “enthusiastic” about a second interconnector with France, as Tanaiste Simon Harris said Europe needs to become more energy independent.

Mr Harris’s call for Europe to bolster its own energy resilience came days after the Cabinet was told Ireland would miss its renewable energy targets up to 2030, a failure that one report said could come with a multibillion-euro price tag.

On Tuesday, the Tanaiste said it was “not clear” how much Ireland will have to pay in penalties over the missed target as he called for an increased focus on delivery of energy infrastructure.

Speaking to reporters in Paris, Mr Harris said the 1.6 billion euro Celtic Interconnector – which will be the first connection from Ireland into the European electricity grid – is due to open in 2028.

He said: “The last number of days has shown the world, it’s so important that Europe becomes energy independent, that we build up our energy resilience.

“And this piece of infrastructure – the Celtic Interconnector – is just that.”

Mr Harris, who is due to meet the French finance minister Roland Lescure on Wednesday, added: “I’d like to have a discussion with the French Government about us being even more ambitious, seeing if we could develop a second interconnector as well between Ireland and France – that’s a conversation we’ll be enthusiastic to have.”

The Tanaiste has said that while Europe’s energy market has become more diversified since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it is still “far too reliant on other parts of the world”.

He said the current energy crisis should be “a sharp reminder and wake-up call about the urgency of moving towards energy independence at a European level”.

Cabinet heard this week that while the State met its “baseline” renewable energy target of 16% in 2024, it is projected to fall short of interim targets in 2025 (27.6%) and 2027 (33.6%).

The overall ambition is a renewable energy share of 43% in 2030.

A 2025 report from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) and the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) estimated that the cost of missing the renewable energy targets could range between 200 million euro and 4.4 billion euro.

The same IFAC and CCAC report estimated that the cost of missing targets under the Effort Sharing Regulation could range between three and 16 billion euro, while underperforming in the Land-Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry Regulation could cost between 0.5 and 5.8 billion euro.

That projects a worst-case scenario of spending up to 26 billion euro.

Asked if the shortfall was a symptom of the Green Party exiting Government, Mr Harris said: “I think it’s more a symptom of the fact that we have to be able to deliver infrastructure more quickly.”

He said he had told ECOFIN colleagues that it was “extraordinarily ironic” that regulation and rules in planning “can actually slow down something that can actually help deliver energy security and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels”.

Mr Harris said he and Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers had highlighted energy as one of the areas where they want to see accelerated delivery.

Asked how much he anticipated Ireland to pay for missing climate targets, he said: “That’s not clear yet.”

Mr Harris said there could be other ways of offsetting measures and the focus remained on “accelerating our delivery”.

Mr Harris’s engagements in Paris also include a bilateral with the secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann, which he said would be focused on shocks to global economy in recent days.

A spokesman said the meetings are likely to “focus on the fallout from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East” and the implications for the EU.

This includes issues around oil supply which were discussed by the G7 on Monday, the presidency of which is currently held by France.

Mr Harris’s visit also comes ahead of Ireland assuming the presidency of the Council of the European Union later this year, for which it anticipates France will be a key partner.

Mr Harris will also be engaging with the tourism sector at a St Patrick’s Day event hosted by Tourism Ireland.