Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tá áthas orm labhairt ar an rún seo ar maidin. Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta Michael Collins agus leis an bhfoireann go léir atá ag obair linn. Rinne siad sár-obair ar an rún seo chomh maith. No self-respecting Government would voluntarily destabilise or disown natural and long-lasting sources of energy dependence for the State, which it has the privilege to govern. Yet, this is precisely what many people see when they look at the actions of this Government and its decision to essentially throw all of our energy needs into one big green basket. In the near to medium term, the effect of such an approach will turn Ireland into a basket case.

It is truly alarming we now have a Government that appears oblivious to any evidence that does not support its own ideological biases. A hundred years after our independence we are, it seems, as dependent as ever on the importation of fuel, not to mention peat. This is completely at odds with what people in the past fought for. The programme of the First Dáil in 1919 stated clearly that the people of Ireland have the right to use their own resources but the Government has taken that right from us and has now put us into a situation where we have an energy crisis and there are questions over our energy security. The Government, therefore, needs to act on these questions because they are coming from very good and reliable sources. We are now regarded as the fourth most energy insecure country, according to the ESRI. The Government can disregard what the Rural Independent Group is saying but is it also, in its arrogance, disregarding what the ESRI is saying because it does not want to hear any of this until there is a crisis? We will be in a deep crisis if the Government does not act.

What is any sane person going to make of the fact that in 2021 alone we imported in excess of 42,800 tonnes of peat valued at €7.3 million. To do so when we have an enormous indigenous supply boggles the mind. It makes no sense. It is the definition of shooting ourselves in both feet, all the while creating a situation where emissions from such activity are multiples of what they would be if we simply used the peat and turf on our own doorstep. I have consistently made the point that while the Government talks a great game about transforming energy sources and promoting and increasing alternatives sources but the facts say otherwise; they are black and white. Only last week it was reported online by The Ditchthat while the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, claimed more than a month ago to have opened a solar farm in Wicklow it is yet to supply any electricity to the national grid. As the The Ditchnoted on the same day the Minister opened the farm, his Department falsely claimed in a press release the farm was delivering electricity to Ireland's grid. Again, it is all about spin. In fact, the solar farm, which is owned by a French multinational energy provider, is yet to be made fully operational despite the Minister and his Department's claims as well as the media fanfare that greeted the farm's opening. It seems to be all about the openings and the fanfare.

The we have the problems I have repeatedly pointed to in the area of microgeneration and the support scheme for it. The Minister confirmed to me in a reply to a parliamentary question that the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, CRU, "... is not setting a date or deadline for the timing of the first payment ... " to the microgeneration customers. My constituents, including farmers and families, are still waiting to receive such payments. This is totally unacceptable. As reported then, a promised 1 cent per litre cut to the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, levy was not delivered by Government but the decision not to implement it only came to light when revealed by theIrish Independentlast week. The decision means motorists battling soaring fuel rates at the pump missed out on a saving of €20 million of fuel costs. That is to say nothing of the delays in getting the licensed haulage emergency support scheme up and running. Though it was announced in March is was not until approximately six weeks later that 3,000 haulage and freight operators could access the scheme. Where is the sense of urgency?

On the broader picture and how we offer real, practical and vastly less expensive fuel alternatives, I and my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group recently met representatives of both the Alliance for Zero Carbon Heating and Liquid Gas Ireland. These groups offer credible and sustainable alternative models that must be actively explored by Government if it is serious about approaching this issue in a much more credible way.

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