Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Just before I start, I wish to pay tribute to Eileen Rushe, who has sadly passed away. I send my condolences to her son, Seamus, and her other family. I wish to thank her for all her work in promoting the HPV vaccine. I also ask the Taoiseach, at this juncture, to look again at the issue of the CervicalCheck tribunal, which we know is not functioning. Many of us have raised the issue in this House.

Today I wish to raise an issue that many people in Ireland are concerned about. That concern has been multiplied by the interviews given by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications today in relation to where we are going from an energy point of view. In multiple interviews this morning, he could not say that he could guarantee that the lights will stay on this winter. I ask the Taoiseach the same question. For everybody in Ireland watching now, in his reply, will he guarantee that the lights will stay on this winter? It is a fairly simple question.

I was in Brighton over the last few days at the Labour Party conference. I passed many fuel depots and saw cars queuing up for petrol. Obviously, because of Brexit, the UK has sleepwalked into a crisis. I am concerned that because of our lack of long-term planning, we are sleepwalking into a crisis here when it comes to energy. Anyone watching this debate today will be very worried. I must ask a number of questions. Is it because we have a dysfunctional system that EirGrid and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications are not talking to one another? How is it that two gas-fired plants went down at the same time? We all know when to get our cars serviced. How come these two plants went down at the same time? It has never been explained. I asked the Tánaiste last week if heavy industry was being issued with stock requests to manage the grid. Amazingly, as the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, he did not know the answer. When IDA Ireland is attracting companies here, and I have often complimented it for the work it does, do we actually index the load requirements of the industry we are bringing in? Do we do a cost-benefit analysis, for want of a better phrase? We have had our debate on data centres and we know we have to manage that. Is the Department of Transport at the table in the conversations on the whole energy issue? We are expecting people to buy more electric vehicles in January. We want people to move to heat pumps. This will all increase load. On the one hand, we are asking them to do this, and on the other, we are saying we might not have enough electricity to be able to ensure they work. At the end of the day, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, has warned that people will face higher energy costs. What are we going to do in order to help them?

Unlike the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications this morning, will the Taoiseach guarantee that the lights will stay on this coming winter? Can he explain how we got to this point and how short-termism got us here? Finally, what regulations is he going to bring in to ensure people will be able to afford to heat their homes this winter?

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