Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, as price takers, we have little influence over the situation where we are importing 100% of our oil needs and 96% of our gas needs. Earlier Deputy Broughan tried to place responsibility for rising gas prices on me. I have responsibilities for many things, but I am not responsible for the global price of gas which reached an all-time high earlier this year. Deputy Durkan is right: if we are dependent on importing fossil fuels to generate electricity and we are in the position of price taker, it is a very difficult situation for us. The more alternatives we can create, the better, especially if they are created from an indigenous resource.

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