Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. We are now six years into the 21st century and Ireland remains heavily dependent on the fuel that powered us more than 100 years ago. Since that time we have sent rockets into outer space and put men on the moon, yet we are still dependent on this fuel. In recent months President Bush went so far as to state that our dependence on oil is an addiction. The only solution to an addiction is to recognise one has it and then to take steps to cure it. That is the situation with which we are now faced.

If one is in a situation where a car can run at 120 km/h up until the last second before it runs out, the moral of the story is that energy shortages can happen almost instantaneously. We only have to examine the situation in the Middle East which is most unstable and the threat of war is ever present. This leads to increases in the price of oil and, in turn, to it becoming scarcer. Every so often we get trapped in a vicious cycle in this regard. I suspect another such crisis is imminent.

When Saudi Arabian oil production peaks, oil production around the world will enter a period of irreversible decline. There is rising demand for oil in India and China, which is in second place in terms of worldwide demand. Demand is rising at a rapid rate and an oil production peak is fast approaching. The worst thing we can do is be in denial. We must recognise we have a problem and begin to address it.

Cambridge Energy Research Associates expect oil supplies to hold out for the next 20 to 30 years before the decline impacts. Recent forecasts have predicted oil prices will climb to $120 a barrel and this will have serious consequences for the price of goods and services which will hit us right across the board. The cost of heating an average home will rise significantly.

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