Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I agree that supply security is a crucial consideration in our energy policy and relates to the plant we have and the fuel mix we use in future. We must be careful not to generate an over-reliance on gas or any other fuel supply in our mix. The Deputy is correct that there are difficulties around the reliability of older plants such as the three to which he referred. The problem is related to the age of the plants — in some cases more than 50 years — not to any policy decisions on their future ownership or operations.

There have been key developments in securing supply in the short to medium term. The development of new power plants is on line for the next two or three years as Bórd Gáis and the ESB are contracting new large power stations. The response in renewable energy is only a fraction of the amount we need to develop. Rather than celebrating 1,000 MW of wind power we must plan for a multiple of that and arrange our planning and other systems to provide for that power source. Development must be delivered in a timely fashion. I hope Deputy Coveney ensures Fine Gael proves useful in ensuring the proper, swift and safe development of infrastructure such as interconnectors north-south and east-west, in the national interest. These will provide a valuable additional security of supply to cope with a difficult situation in which our demand for electricity is growing significantly.

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