Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am coming around. I am a proponent of wind energy and renewable energy. I am also a proponent of ensuring we have all the facts on the table for every type of energy production. Reference was made to cost; 2 cent for fossil fuels compared with 22 cent for hydro energy and wave energy. One must balance environment protection against the cost and examine all of the aspects. We need an additional presentation on the ramping up and scaling down of production and the spinning reserve in order to have all the facts. We must also focus on when the lights will go off. It is not about paying back our debt, it is about climate change, CO2 and other issues. We want to get that right. Hydro is the most positive element but as has been said, we have only the Shannon, we do not have the Nile. Wind is the next best option and nuclear energy is the third best. People should not shake their heads. I am calling it as it is, based on published studies and taking pollution into account. Biomass comes after that. All technologies are being considered.

We have an abundance of wind in Ireland. We export beef, fish and other products without anyone decrying that. When we start to export wind, there is a big singsong about it. Could one of the witnesses remind me how much wind energy was worth to this country in the past five years? I have forgotten the amount but it was of the order of billions. The worth was given in production terms. One has to ask whether it is worth that much when one takes into account the reserve and the cost of production. There are swings and roundabouts. I thank the witnesses for attending today’s meeting. The committee has a lot of questions to ask of other people as well as today’s witnesses. I hope the climate change Bill will improve our energy situation. We must do something to ensure the lights do not go off.