Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his presentation. I have a couple of questions for him.

Many of Europe's gas supplies come from Russia. We need to be realistic about where we are going in this regard in the next 20 or 30 years. Is it fair to say the plan is to continue to rely on Russia to meet up to 50% of Europe's gas requirements or is any change proposed in that regard?

The Minister mentioned the need for greater efficiency. I agree with him in that regard. Every public representative will have engaged with councils on the retrofitting of houses. While one council will offer only one incentive to increase energy efficiency, others will offer up to five. There is, therefore, no common denominator in the resolution of this problem across the country.

When attending European Council meetings the Minister should argue that Ireland is a special case. We have just come through one of the worst ever batterings experienced by any country. With luck, we hope to increase employment levels by up to 150,000 in the next few years. The more employment we create, the more people we will have in business and the more cars there will be on the roads. Electricity prices in Ireland are the third highest in Europe. On the need for increased efficiency and the proposed change to bio-energy, we need to be honest and tell the people that as we cannot produce biomass here, we will have to import it.

On solar energy, in a programme I saw last night on television it was stated that without subsidisation, the solar energy proposition would not work. Wind energy generation is subsidised. A person who sets up a business must be able to make a profit. If a business is not profitable, no one is going to give the businessperson €100 million to keep him going just because he is a great fellow who is employing people. In terms of the alternatives being considered, we are not stacking up to stand alone in bringing about a substantial decrease in the cost of electricity.

What is being said about wind energy generation does not stack up and there is no point in saying otherwise. Iin the context of European discussions, we need to make the point that Ireland is a special case. As I said, it has just come through a ferocious recession and is now starting to climb the hill in terms of the numbers now at work. The country is starting to recover, but let us live in the real world. As elderly farmers pass on their farms, with a little luck, there will be more cattle on every farm, which will result in increased carbon emissions. We need to make our case in Europe. In ten to 15 years interconnectors will have improved significantly. In terms of energy production, it will be cheaper for us to import energy supplies from France and Britain where I understand it is proposed to construct five new nuclear plants than to produce energy here with the biomass we propose to import from Africa. We need to be realistic about where we are going in this regard. Has consideration been given to hydro-energy projects? Is consideration being given to generating energy in that way which may be a more viable alternative? At the end of the day we cannot live with a blanket over the country to try to eliminate all carbon emissions. People have to live, eat and work and the country has to survive. In terms of EU targets, we need to make the argument in Europe that we must first ensure people can live and work in this country.

I know that the Minister and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, are discussing the issue of distances. Will they make a decision in the energy strategy on the set-back distance of residences from turbines?