Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The war in Ukraine has exposed how vulnerable this State is to volatility in the international energy markets and reinforced the need to radically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and become energy-independent. Ireland imports a little over 70% of the energy we use and this is well over the EU average of 58%. Oil accounts for 45% of primary energy needs and gas for a further 34%. All of the oil used in Ireland is imported, as is three quarters of our gas. This highlights our massive reliance on others to keep the lights on and the economy moving. Despite having an almost unlimited amount of renewable energy available off our coast and on our rooftops, the failure to develop this over the past 20 years has significantly contributed to our energy insecurity.

Offshore wind can deliver energy independence and security for our island. Done right, we can create jobs here, bring down the cost of electricity, radically reduce emissions from the energy sector and deliver lasting energy security. The potential to become a net exporter of electricity and green hydrogen to Europe also offers us a huge opportunity to raise significant revenue for reinvestment in climate action. I had the opportunity recently to travel to the Moray East offshore wind farm off the coast of Aberdeen alongside colleagues from the climate action committee. This wind farm alone will produce enough electricity to power 1 million homes. It is a remarkable feat of engineering and highlights the opportunity we have on this island to do the same.

However, we have had a lost decade of development in Ireland. Fine Gael took office back in 2011 and wasted a massive opportunity to spearhead the development of offshore wind over the subsequent ten years. While Scotland was literally laying the foundations, successive Governments here did nothing. There were no offshore auctions, no resourcing of our planning agencies, no port investment, no maritime area planning, no supply chain development, no apprenticeships; the list goes on.

While I welcome the step change since the Minister took over, I am concerned the energy transition is not receiving the primacy of focus it requires. Issues around planning and ports, in particular, are still not being addressed. They are immediate pinch points for the sector and for the opportunities that present. Having raised the matter with the Tánaiste during Questions on Policy or Legislation this morning, I am not convinced the Government is taking it seriously enough or that it is receiving the requisite attention.

The industry has set out in stark terms what needs to be done to accelerate the delivery of offshore wind farms. It has warned that we will miss our 2030 targets if that delivery is not achieved. Unfortunately, I do not see a similar level of concern from the Minister. We need to see our planning agencies resourced properly to reduce the planning delays faced by offshore wind projects. We need robust, thorough and quality planning procedures for renewable energy projects but we also need decisions to be made in a timely manner. The renewables industry has pointed out that the average decision time for a planning appeal is 60 weeks, and 69 weeks for strategic infrastructure developments, versus the statutory objective to determine cases within 18 weeks. This is evidence of a broken system that must be addressed if we are to deliver the scale of offshore wind required.

Last October, approval was given by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to An Bord Pleanála for an additional eight personnel for the planning authority's marine and climate unit. Despite this, by July of this year, just three of those posts had been filled. Others were not even advertised. This simply is not good enough.

Last month, we heard that just one port in Ireland, namely, Belfast, is capable of hosting the construction and installation of offshore wind farms. If we do not invest in and ready our ports now, we will lose the jobs and supply chain business from these multibilllion euro projects to ports in Britain. We will miss our renewables targets and our emissions reduction objectives. I note that the four Irish ports that applied for EU funding under the Connecting Europe Facility were unsuccessful. This is concerning. The Government must step in to kick-start the investment that is required. We need particular and focused investment in Rosslare, Shannon Foynes and Cork Dockyard. In addition, we need to invest in our electricity grid, develop our battery storage and green hydrogen sectors and reduce the cost of producing renewable energy here. These are the solutions to the problem in the longer term. I urge the Minister of State to prioritise addressing them.

Sinn Féin has been campaigning for years for our solar potential to be fully utilised. The International Energy Agency, IEA, has highlighted that in a period of just 90 minutes, enough sunlight strikes the Earth to provide the entire planet's energy needs for a whole year. While solar energy is abundant, it represents a tiny fraction of Ireland's current energy mix. Sinn Féin published its Microgeneration Support Scheme Bill almost six years ago but little progress has been made since then to roll out solar energy in homes. We want to see solar photovoltaic, PV, panels installed on homes, businesses, schools, sports facilities, community buildings and farms across Ireland to help to cut our carbon emissions and deliver savings for citizens and communities. Installing an average-sized solar PV system on a home can generate 40% of the electricity needs of that household. This is particularly important given the massive electricity costs households now face. The MaREI Centre in Cork has found that solar panels could power a quarter of Irish households. I welcome the Government's solar for schools initiative and would like to see the detail on it.

Last month, Sinn Féin welcomed the long overdue publication of the energy security review. The report short-listed gas storage options of strategic floating liquefied natural gas, LNG, and strategic storage onshore or offshore. These options must be considered in the context of fossil fuel lock-in and ease of conversion to hydrogen or other low- or zero-carbon fuels. Commercial LNG is not short-listed, but is long-listed, due to the fact such a facility could result in the importation of fracked gas and could, furthermore, become a stranded asset. In regard to the notion of a stranded asset, I echo the call made repeatedly by my colleague, Senator Boylan, that Ireland needs to follow the example of the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Poland and probably France in leaving the Energy Charter Treaty. It is a bad deal that potentially will leave a significant burden on Irish taxpayers if we are left with these types of stranded assets. We have been expressing our concerns for some time about Ireland's lack of gas storage. Currently, 93.8% of the EU's gas storage is filled but Ireland does not have any such facility.

In the time remaining, it would be remiss of me not to refer to one of the other significant challenges facing Ireland We need a conversation on data centres. There has been a policy failure in this regard, including a failure in planning. We need a real discussion on how many data centres we can manage and what our fair share might be. Again, we have seen a developer-led approach rather than a plan-led approach. We must look at where these centres are located, whether they are providing district heating and how they are powered. They are putting huge pressure on the electricity grid and may potentially put huge pressure on the gas grid. They could be powered entirely by renewables if they were prescribed to do so. It could be a different story but it is not.

We need a clear focus on the McCarthy review into what has led us to this point. It is a failure of the Government to bring us to the brink of blackouts for a number of winters. That needs to be investigated. We have had representatives of the CRU before the Oireachtas climate committee, where they pointed to the failure of the T-4 auction. That needs to be investigated and the committee is going to do some work in this regard. There must be accountability. There are question marks over the Minister of the day, the Department, the CRU, EirGrid and others in the energy landscape in Ireland. We need accountability and lessons must be learned. The big opportunity is in renewables. There will be a transition to be managed and it must be done carefully and right.

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