Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Global warming has been catastrophic in 2018 and it is registering with people that we are not in a good place. For the past seven or eight years, I have been highlighting this issue with the Minister and his predecessors, including Mr. Phil Hogan and Mr. Pat Rabbitte. We do not have many practical measures in place at this stage. The Minister of State referred to measures the Government will put in place. We welcome those and their introduction needs to be accelerated. He also outlined some of the new technologies. The programme for Government made specific commitments in this area which need to be fast-tracked. The cost to the State of not taking this action will be between €100 million and €600 million in the next two or three years.

The Minister of State mentioned converting Moneypoint power station. To what exactly will the Moneypoint plant be converted? Given that our supply of natural gas is running out, does the Government intend converting it to biomass and, if so, from where will the biomass come?

See this speech in context