Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also wish to discuss the issue of security. Up to now we have lived in a time of unprecedented peace and security in Europe, including energy security and food security. All of that seems to be questionable and questioned now.

I agree with the Tánaiste's vision of bringing offshore energy onto our western shores and storing it in the form of hydrogen because obviously we cannot store energy. I do not know if he has spoken to some of the people involved, but the technology to do it is not there now. Everybody is hopeful, even confident, that it will be there, but it is not there now. There is technology for anchored turbines, but they are primarily suitable for the east coast. Any turbines off the west coast will have to be floating. There is an appropriately named high winds platform off the coast of Scotland, but the technology just is not there for what is proposed off the west coast now.

I share the Tánaiste's optimism. I greatly look forward to when Moneypoint is not burning coal and when vast volumes of wind energy are being turned into hydrogen and stored there. Perhaps we could be self-sufficient in car and vehicle fuel as well, but that is all down the road. Is the Government going to decommission the biggest power station in this country before we have an alternative? That is what it is currently planning.

The Tánaiste mentioned the nine new gas power stations, with one in Northern Ireland and eight here. When they were announced, they were to be built by 2024. Where are they and how are we going to buy the gas that is going to fuel them if gas prices rise? The vast majority of the energy that fuels Germany, the biggest economy in the European Union, comes from Russia.

We mentioned LNG, but I understand that America imports Russian gas. It uses LNG but it also imports gas from Russia. I do not think the Americans are talking about the same level of sanctions that we are. What is the plan for energy security in this State? What is the plan for food security? Ukraine has a population of 40 million and produces enough food to feed 600 million. Obviously, it is expected that there is going to be an interruption in that food production, which will lead to a huge increase in food prices. For millennia, we have always produced enough food in this State to feed the people here, but that does not mean people did not go hungry because they could not afford food. Farmers are facing unprecedented costs. The biggest exporter of fertiliser in the world is Russia while Belarus is a major exporter as well. The biggest exporter of grain in the world is Russia and Ukraine is a major exporter. Both the rising cost of grain and fertiliser will have a knock-on cost for farmers and unless the Government helps with the cost this year, they are going to have to pass it on next year. We are looking at a real possibility of food shortages across western Europe. What, if any, is the Government's plan?

See this speech in context