Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. O'Donoghue and Dr. Deane for their presentations. I agree with Deputy Haughey that what they have told us is frightening. I do not think most of us in the Oireachtas are aware of the scale of what has been outlined. Mr. O'Donoghue is taking more of a high level European view and, therefore, I want to ask about the REpowerEU plan that was announced to deal with the war in Ukraine and imports of Russian gas. If we are looking to reduce our demand by 15% but we import 40%, how are we planning to deal with that? It does not look like the numbers add up. Are we relying heavily on renewables increasing in the short term? Are we relying heavily on demand reduction, given it is difficult to calculate how much we can achieve? I think he said 5% was challenging but doable, which seems like a small amount even at that rate. Can he elaborate on hedging and how he sees that playing out in the next 12 to 18 months? I was aware that a lot of the energy was bought in advance, but I think it is still misunderstood as to how that will impact on consumer prices in the next year to 18 months.

I would like ask Dr. Deane about the Irish situation. According to the figures he outlined, it is quite embarrassing that we still rely on fossil fuels to the level of 86%. It is even worse and almost negligent that we are still importing those volumes of fossil fuels at the cost of €1 million every hour. It is disgraceful we are still at that point. With regard to the Corrib gas field, which I acknowledge is on the decline, is there any other potential there? What is the short-term solution for gas storage? What can be done in the next 12 months to try to address that issue? I was also struck by what was said about there being no mitigation plan against the energy crisis. We are reacting and throwing money at it, for want of a better phrase, for the next while. What kind of mitigation plan would Dr. Deane put in place in Ireland? What should we ask the Minister with responsibility for energy to do in the next 12 months?