56. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the number of grants that have been awarded for geothermal heat pump systems, by county, for each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; and the actions his Department is taking to raise awareness of these systems and increase the numbers of such grants. [65883/26]

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) manage a number of residential and community energy upgrade grant support schemes on behalf of my Department. The SEAI does not collect data on the type of heat pump installed for the majority of its schemes, including One Stop Shop, Community Energy Grant and Business grant schemes. A very small number of geothermal heat pumps have been grant-aided under the SEAI’s Better Energy Home scheme. See table below.

Geothermal heat pumps are more suited to buildings with large energy demands for heating and cooling, such as in retail, leisure centres and hospitals. My Department is a funding partner of the GEMINI project (Geothermal Energy Momentum in Ireland and Northern Ireland), a €20M cross-border initiative funded by the SEUPB and PEACEPLUS that will run from 2024 until 2028. Several demonstrator geothermal heat pump projects are planned under GEMINI, including decarbonising Sligo Regional Sports Centre with a shallow geothermal heat pump system. Outcomes from the GEMINI project will help public bodies with large energy demands for heating and cooling better assess the case for geothermal heat pumps.

The Health Service Executive’s (HSE) Pilot Energy and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Project, in partnership with the SEAI, includes the installation of a hybrid geothermal system at Cavan General Hospital.

Geothermal Heat Pump Installs on BEH