Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 9 November 2017

Public Accounts Committee

2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment

9:00 am

Mr. Mark Griffin:

No. First of all, the cost of renewable energy technologies is falling. We have seen that quite clearly over the last number of years. People would not have dreamed, even five years ago, of getting into offshore renewable energy. The price of that has come down dramatically. We are seeing the technology costs reducing very significantly. I am talking about the totality of the shift from the sort of fossil fuel-based economy that we are operating in to a low-carbon economy where we will have to invest in the electrification of the suburban rail lines and more Luas lines. There will have to be changes in agricultural practices and there will be a cost. We will have to fundamentally change our tax model if we are moving away from diesel cars to electric cars. All of this has a cost but obviously there are massive savings and good things will come.

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