Dr. Paul Deane:

I thank the Senator for those questions. With regard to our reliance on fossil fuel, I agree it is incredibly disappointing and there is a low awareness of that right among the public. We tell the world we are green and clean, but we are not. We are one of the most fossil fuel reliant countries in Europe. The main source of fossil fuel in Ireland is oil, and after that it is natural gas. As I said, we are now spending an incredible €1 million every hour importing those fuels. I am reflecting while looking out the window here in west Cork, and when considering the wind and waves and the natural resources we have in this country, it is a terrible indictment. We could even include farms. I am looking out at some small farms. Our small farmers and rural communities have the ability to produce our own renewable gas, particularly farmers who are looking for an exit strategy from farming sectors that are not financially productive. We could produce approximately 15% of our natural gas needs from our land by 2030, if we put a good focus on it. Not only would that meet some of our future natural gas needs, it would also help those rural communities and farmers who are struggling. It would give them different options to use their land for something more financially viable. It is disappointing and a terrible indictment. We came out of the previous energy crisis in the 1970s and 1980s and we were approximately 90% reliant on fossil fuels.

Today we are about 86% reliant on fossil fuels. What has changed since then is that now we have the technologies. We know we can produce huge amounts of electricity from onshore and offshore wind farms and from solar farms. We know we can save huge amounts of energy from our homes and from our transportation system. It is not that we do not know what to do. We know what we have to do and we have the technologies. That is important.

To address the question of the idea of a plan, we have put in place some very generous financial measures and means for families that are struggling at the moment. That is necessary, particularly to ensure that those on the lowest incomes get the highest level of financial protection. That is a short-term plan and we need to think more in the long term. We have a number of policy instruments and policy packages that tend to be operational. We have a national development plan and a climate action plan. We have different plans around healthcare and transport but what is really needed is an integrated plan to make the most of our energy resources. Norway for example, has done an incredible job in harnessing the potential of its offshore resources which are oil and gas. For Ireland it would be onshore and offshore wind. We must look at how Norway uses that resource, not just to earn money for companies but to improve society. People are put at the centre of that resource potential. The resource is used to develop the education and healthcare systems. This is important because we do not just need an energy plan in Ireland, we need a plan for our wider society. Energy does not just stop at the end of a cable or at the end of a pipeline. It comes into our communities; it affects our physical and mental health and affects us in many more ways. We are seeing those impacts at the moment through high prices right across society. I would call for a wider masterplan in how we use our natural resources and how we harness that potential. This is not just to make us energy independent and to move away from fossil fuels, although that is fundamentally important, but also how we can use it to enable other societal developments which are important for us in the same way that Norway has done around its healthcare, education systems and infrastructure. Looking to other countries for ideas on how we develop those resources is fundamentally important. It is not just about energy. It is about people and communities and it is about having a coherent plan that allows everybody to come on board as we move away from fossil fuels.

On the Corrib gas field, today, this field meets about 25% of our annual gas demand but it is dwindling. We will become more and more reliant on the physical infrastructure we use to import natural gas from the UK into Ireland. As I have mentioned, the Government has a consultation process on energy security at the moment. This process looks at a number of options, such as floating offshore energy which would be State owned and strategic gas storage, either onshore or offshore. Demand-side measures are also being looked at but we need to temper our expectations. A lot of those measures will take three to four years or longer to achieve in terms of implementation, permits and delivery.

In the short term, the most powerful thing we can all do is conserve energy. I appreciate this is often politically and socially unpopular. Encouraging people and giving them information on how they can save energy at home, in the office, in schools and universities is fundamentally important. Unfortunately, some of these ideas get ridiculed within the media but it is no laughing matter for a lot of families out there. Yes, taking shorter showers is an idea that is often socially unpalatable but electric showers are one of the appliances that use most electricity in an Irish home. They use between €400 to €500 worth of electricity per year for a typical Irish house. Empowering consumers, families and communities on options to reduce our reliance on and our exposure to these prices is something that is necessary. I appreciate the political difficulties of this but we are in a very serious situation here.

As Mr. O'Donoghue and I have outlined, this crisis is not going to go away. The measures we need to put in place will take time but time is not on our side. We need to act now. One of the most pragmatic things that can be done, and I acknowledge that it will not be politically popular, is to give people information on how to reduce their energy use. That increases our resilience in terms of security of supply and it reduces people's energy bills for electricity, transport and heating. That is fundamentally important. It should be our goal in the short term until we find a line of sight out of this current energy crisis.