Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is not a stark as the Deputy has put it. That is not what we are talking about.

Deputy Darren O'Rourke raised the issue of the Energy Charter Treaty. Again, we will keep that under review but he should be in no doubt as to our mission, which is to end our dependency on fossil fuels and to develop alternatives through wind energy, solar and other mechanisms. That is clear in our strategies. In response to Deputy Ó Murchú, that is our position. I put it to both Deputies that their position on how to deal with the price increases would have been to give a blank cheque to the fossil fuel companies. It would probably have been very damaging to the economy if we had implemented their proposal of the energy cap, which the energy companies would have benefited from. We need a bespoke approach on district heating. I will come back to the Deputy on that and I have said it to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan.

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