Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We cannot have our debate here without energy or electricity. We cannot drive our cars without petrol or diesel. Let us stay in the real world. The real world from the Government perspective is that there is an independent study. It is independent of Government and everybody else, taking on board everybody in the country who had an opinion. That has all been put into the mix and out of that will come a scientific study that I will stand over, whatever the outcome. The Department will not influence it. The report will be what the EPA finds. It will be published and will come before this House and will be fully debated in committee. Nothing is hidden here, and nothing is being ignored.

We have to live in the real world. We have to examine all of the facts, which will speak for themselves. I will support those facts, whatever they are, but I do not exclude the possibility that the science will say A, B, C, D or E. I do not know what it will say but we cannot reject the fact, as Deputy Daly did, that in Ireland we deal with our energy. We have the third highest wind energy output in the European Union. The Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, and I spend an awful lot of our time on renewable energy, wind and wave energy and so on. Let us have a real, practical and honest debate on this. Reading statements that sound good but do not make sense is not the way we will do business in this House. We will deal in facts alone.

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