Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister stated that there are facilities being refurbished in Wexford and at Poolbeg. Are those belonging to private companies? Who is funding their refurbishment? There was a State oil facility off Cork but it is in the hands of the private sector at present. The Minister might outline the situation with those facilities.

Given the constant volatile situation in the Middle East and in the big oil producing countries, there is always a vulnerability around oil. We are in a particularly precarious situation. The Minister's opinion that the oil reserves be held in the State or in countries near to the State until we increase our capacity is the correct one, but we are in a very vulnerable position because we are so dependent on fossil fuels. We had a discussion earlier about the need to accelerate the drive away from that dependency. It is also costing us nearly €6 billion a year that is going out of the country on imported fossil fuels. The Minister might answer those questions about Wexford and Poolbeg.

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