Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I put a different question. We should clarify. Importing electricity is as important as exporting electricity to the islands. The connection is insecure at present and there is no fallback. Where I live is different in that there are fallbacks. If power coming from one direction goes, I can get power from another direction, even though I am in a very rural area. Has Mr. Finnegan discussed this with the Department that has responsibility for the extra cost of extra infrastructure for islands? They could take a holistic view of water, fibre-optic and electricity and put them in now. We already have power generation but there is significant usage of electricity on the islands, especially during the summer, and we need to be able to use even more heavy equipment. In the old days, many people used gas and so on. We need to replace all the other supplies.

There is one other point that is often missed. You do not need to buy an electric car for use on an island if you wish to use electric vehicles and not use any fossil fuel. All you have to do is buy a second-hand hybrid because its range is more than adequate for the island if it is charged every night or every three or four nights, depending on the size of the island and the amount of driving you do. There are only six miles each way on the biggest island. Would Mr. Finnegan consider going back to the Department with responsibility for the islands and asking it to fork out for the extra cost, and to do it now and put it in place, because the islands are importing as well as exporting. It is not just for renewable energy. It is for the people who are there already. That was my question.