Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. We support tougher and stiffer sanctions. I have had meetings in recent weeks in Berlin and Paris with other European ministers. There have been meetings of the International Energy Agency, IEA. It held an emergency meeting last week at which we made the case for tougher sanctions. That would affect other countries in Europe far more than it would affect Ireland.

Europe has introduced sanctions on coal. That was announced yesterday by the Commission, as I understand it. That should not have a major disruptive effect on this country because Moneypoint, the largest coal user, is already switching away from Russian contracts towards Colombian coal. Similarly in terms of gas, while it would probably have a significant effect on the market price if Russian gas were to be shut off, minimal amounts of our supply come through from Russia. Our gas comes from the Corrib gas field, the UK and Norway. Very little of it comes from Russia. It would have a price implication but less so a supply one. In terms of oil, there is real concern. The International Energy Agency has prepared several detailed reports looking at the oil supply situation. Russia is one of the largest global oil exporters. There has already been a reduction in the supply of oil. An estimated 3 million barrels a day of exports are now not being put out into the market. That is why we have been doing these oil stock releases. There are implications but we can manage them.

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