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

I made the point earlier that our system of government does not place any responsibility for policy-making on Opposition Deputies and God knows I was one for long enough. It is equally true that it is a feature of Irish policy-making that as soon as a great idea about developing renewable energy from onshore wind farms, for example, begins to become a reality its earlier proponents start to run away and discover that maybe we should do it offshore. I do not make that allegation in the case of Deputy Catherine Murphy because I do not doubt her commitment to the question of renewable energy. Time and again during the debate on this topic I have seen opposition fomented to the build-out of the grid and people who should know better giving credence to claims that we know are not objectively or scientifically valid. There are valid complaints but there are also complaints that are not supported by science. I do not believe that we are behind the curve in this area. I do not believe that climate change policy is inconsistent with Deputy Murphy’s argument that there ought to be sectoral plans. That is what is happening here. I hope to publish the OREDP within the next month. That is a sectoral plan focused on the area of substantial concern in Deputy Murphy’s question.

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