Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to thank everyone who contributed to this debate. I also want to thank all my colleagues in the Regional Group for the work that went into this. In addition, want to acknowledge the work that Deputy Naughten, who is not here today, put into it, as well as Ms Cáit Nic Amhlaoibh in our office.

Some people get passionate about things we believe in. I believe that we put much effort into tabling a Private Members’ motion that sets out things that can be done in the short, medium and long term. We all have ambition but it has to be turned into reality. We can and need to do that as a matter of urgency.

The fact that the Government is accepting our motion and is not tabling any amendment to it reflects the fact that the motion is reasonable, practical and that things can be done. As for what needs to happen, a mindset change is required. It is relation to, for instance, Derrybrien. It is what we can do there, as opposed to how we cannot do something. As legislators, it is incumbent on us to make sure that we do something there to make sure that in the interim, as an emergency measure, that resource, which is green energy, is brought back into production in the short term. We have capacity and potential in the two power stations to convert them to biomass. There are practical things but they will not get done as quickly as Derrybrien. My understanding is that Derrybrien has to be switched on again but it needs a legal footing to do that. This is where we should do that. We did many things during Covid, so I think we should be able to do this.

For our future and the future of foreign direct investment, FDI, in this country, we need to demonstrate that we have the capability of having an energy security that matches any place else in the world. Heretofore, FDI companies were looking at our education, workforce and reliability. However, because of what is happening at the moment, I think there is a new element in the equation of where people are deciding to locate, namely, energy supply. It is important for us to make sure that we remain as best in the world in terms of attractiveness for foreign direct investment.

A shop in Roscommon had an ESB bill of more than €6,000. It was reported in the news yesterday. It is not fake news; it is real. Basically, it has now gone up. Over the year, it will cost an additional €148,000 to retain a small retail shop employing 35 people, some on part-time and some on full-time. That is in a rural area. That is the life and blood of rural Ireland. We cannot let that type of situation just be followed by policies and things we are talking about into the future. We need to make sure that we actually account for ourselves.

Deputy O’Donoghue raised the issue of standing charges with the ESB and PSO levy charges. In fact, what is happening is there is more tax taken out of the ESB, even though we gave a little rebate back that cost €2.5 million. We cannot be taking a step forward and one or two steps back. The country needs to see confidence coming back into what we are doing.

I welcome the fact that the Minister mentioned offshore energy and how that will develop and he spoke about the medium term. I agree with him. Coming from a construction background, I would love to see the programme by which that will work, whether a monthly or even a quarterly basis. We will say what day we are turning on the switch so that we can look out from Galway Bay and see the turbines twisting.

That is the future. However, right now we have a problem. I would offer this Private Members’ motion as a framework by which we get resolutions to what is out there. We cannot keep saying, “No, we cannot do this or that.” We have to make sure that we take immediate measures in order that people will see that we are on a course and trajectory where we will get to the day when we will have energy security and green energy. We will be producing it ourselves from our own resources, as the Minister said. I commend him on that vision. However, in order to get that vision enacted and make it a reality, we need to work together. The debate is finished this evening, but that is it. I hope that this document is on the Minister’s officials desks in order that they can get working on what is needed to be done on it. That is the spirit in which we have offered it and I hope that is the spirit in which the Minister has accepted it.

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