Ms Julie O'Neill:

Other countries have other options, some less palatable than others, including nuclear which clearly is not on our agenda at the moment. We are one of the most energy dependent economies in Europe if not the most dependent in terms of imported resources for energy. That is a very difficult position for us. We are on an island on the edge of Europe, from an energy security point of view as well as from the point of view of the burning fossil fuels issue, and we need to do something about increasing the resources available to us and reducing our dependence on imports. As a windy island nation, wind is certainly the best opportunity we have. I have looked at other countries. I have spent quite some time in China in recent years. The pace of growth in wind farms there is extraordinary and yet it will probably struggle to get it up to 10% of its grid because it is heavily dependent on fossil fuels.