Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)

As the Tánaiste says, the enemy of the good is the best. There is a risk that we will go down that road. The barriers are not insurmountable but they require a bit of thought and some practical, sensible solutions to build on what has been done already. When it comes to climate work, what often happens is that affordability for the punter seems to play second fiddle to the work that is being done. I am not denigrating the work that is being done, but we have to keep an awareness of affordability for the punters out there if we are going to try to bring them with us on this journey.

The unit price of fossil fuel gas today is €50 per megawatt hour plus a carbon tax of €20, which brings it to €70 per megawatt hour overall. Biomethane is €120 to €220 per megawatt hour. There is a huge difference in the cost, and we just need to square that up. Nobody wants to retain fossil fuels, least of all me. We just need to be straight up with people that if we are going to do biomethane, there will be a cost associated with that. Let us be upfront about it. Let us try to find ways for people to be efficient, to come on the journey with us, but let us not kid ourselves that there are no economic implications. We need to do it but we need to make sure it is affordable for the punters. That is how we will bring them with us.

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