Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

They are the sort of customers we must target.

On demand reduction, I have not yet received anything from Gas Networks Ireland or the CRU about our planned involvement in the 15% demand reduction but as soon I have anything, I will share it with the committee and put it out there. There has been considerable muddying of the waters. This goes back to what the Chairman said about equating different issues. Some people have been saying that one of the reasons for price rises is the green plans in the country, the move towards renewables and so on. This is untrue. What is to be gained for Irish householders if we go in the direction of renewables is us not being held to ransom by a distant country but, rather, relying on our own power. We do have a comparative competitive advantage. Going back to what Senator Boylan said, in the long term we will have a real competitive advantage in renewables because Ireland is a windier country than most and has a relatively small population, a large land area and an even greater territorial area ratio if we include our sea area. Everything in this crisis should drive us towards accelerating the delivery of renewables. That is what the EU says, and it applies particularly here at home.

The EU also makes the case for efficiency. That is the other great protection against reliance on imported fossil fuels. Our level of exposure and risk and the hit and hurt to Irish families result from our reliance on imported fossil fuels. The price of those fuels is being set so high because our reliance on them is being used as tools of war. That is the reality. It is abundantly and transparently clear and no number of people saying the reason we are in some difficulty is because of renewables or efficiency policies makes it true. The reason we are in difficulty is because of our reliance on fossil fuels.