Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The next question concerns why we have an energy-security problem and why we may have blackouts this winter. Already, many have been reported around the country. Part of the answer is related to the dependency on the data industry. At present, it accounts for 11% of our national grid. I am aware that the Minister of State and the Minister would argue that we must move rapidly towards renewables and offshore wind energy, but why do we not have these yet? We do not because those who sat on licences for more than 20 years and did not develop the offshore wind capacity that they could have developed did so because of their profit margins, not because of the needs of the State, national grid or country. Therefore, the Minister of State is attempting to bulldoze in changes. It is absolutely shameful for the Green Party to sit in government and recommit to having gas infrastructure in the country. If we are to deliver wind energy at scale, the Minister of State's party should be advocating a national renewable energy company to do it for us, just as the ESB provided electricity in the past. Thus, we will not be reliant on the profit margins of the developers of renewable energy.

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