Cabinet today (Tuesday, July 29) gave the green light to new electricity supply legislation that that will establish the rules for the compensation of landowners who are impacted by forestry corridor works.

This legislation will also "attach responsibilities to landowners for corridor maintenance".

According to the Minister for the Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, this will be a "critical piece of legislation" that will help to protect the country's electricity grid.

The legislation follows a pledge made by the government following the devastating consequences of Storm Éowyn in January which left 768,000 customers across the country without electricity - some for weeks on end.

According to the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, Storm Éowyn "exposed critical vulnerabilities arising from unmanaged vegetation and commercial forestry close to electricity infrastructure".

The government today approved the "priority drafting" of the the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025 which will enable the "establishment and maintenance of forestry corridors ".

These are areas within a given distance of the electricity network, where forestry vegetation and related activities can be restricted by law.

The Bill will:

Provide ESB Networks with additional vegetation management powers;
Enable the minister to make regulations on the dimensions and conditions of corridors; attach responsibilities to landowners for corridor maintenance;
Establish principles for the compensation of landowners affected by forestry corridor works;
Disapply the Planning and Development Act 2000 for the associated works, while confirming continued application of the environmental obligations under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives.

Speaking about the legislation Minister O'Brien said it would safeguard homes and businesses "and especially the most vulnerable members of our communities across the country – during the more frequent and destructive storms we now face".

"The legislation will also regularise the requirements on foresters in relation to electricity infrastructure, providing certainty to both the network operator and landowners.

"In drafting this bill, my department will engage in thorough consultation with the forestry industry, as well as other departments, Coillte, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and other relevant stakeholders. The legislation and the regulations it will enable will strike an appropriate balance – between infrastructure resilience, the viability of the forestry sector, environmental impact and control of costs."