Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has not addressed the fact that just yesterday the British Government announced it will reduce subsidies on land-based turbines, while increasing subsidies on offshore turbines. This could be seen as Britain being quite prepared to spoil the Irish environment because it was not permitted to spoil its own one. Britain is also prepared to receive energy supplies from Ireland and the worst part is that there is no financial agreement yet. It looks as if a commitment has been made to supply a certain level of energy to Britain, without agreeing how much. It is like selling a car to somebody without agreeing the price in advance. When will we know what financial arrangements will be made on foot of this memorandum of understanding? Does the memorandum of understanding explicitly commit us to a certain level of supply to the British Government, even though we have not reached any agreement on the financial arrangements?

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