Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct that these are emerging technologies, but they are not that far away. There is enormous confidence that we can do what we want to do off the west coast, which is a floating offshore wind plant plugging into Moneypoint and Tarbert where the grid connection exists and where we can store wind energy in the form of battery power and hydrogen. It is not our intention to close Moneypoint or Tarbert until we are ready to do so.

I do not like the fact we are burning coal in Moneypoint, I do not like the fact we are burning oil in Tarbert, but we do actually need to do so and we may need to do so for many years to come. Those plants will not be decommissioned until we are confident we are able to replace them with secure supply and secure renewables. That might take a bit of time but that is very much the plan.

In regard to food security, I do not believe there are going to be food shortages. I appreciate the Deputy raising the concern but I do not believe that is going to be the case. It is true that both Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of food, particularly of grain, but so are we. I am proud of the fact we live in a country where our farmers and our food industry produce nine times more food than we need. It is all part of an international market. In that context, where we produce nine times more food than we need, we do not need to be concerned about food security or shortages here in Ireland.

Prices may rise, and the Deputy is right about that. Inputs, energy costs, fertiliser - the price of all of those things is soaring, and we know that. I know farmers are telling the Deputy that and they are telling me that too. We will try to help farmers in any way we can but we also need to be realistic. These are international developments. The price of energy is going to rise and that will have a knock-on effect on the price of food and the price of other things. The Government has intervened to help and will continue to intervene to help, but we need to be realistic too. We are still a country that is not balancing the books at the moment. Borrowing the people's money to help them out is ultimately self-defeating, and we have to be cautious as to what we do in that regard.

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