Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue and support the amendment because, as Senator Kenneally noted earlier, it is non-contentious. We are all aware that continued dependence on fossil fuel is unacceptable in this country and our combined efforts will be required if we are to develop a more sustainable future.

Ireland's 90% dependency rate on fossil fuels compares unfavourably with the EU average of 50%, which itself is too high. With regard to the EU targets for renewable energy of 13.2% by 2010 and 20% by 2020, it could be argued that we are not ambitious enough and should set the bar much higher. While I commend this and previous Ministers with responsibility for energy on the initiatives they have taken, we are not doing enough in this regard. Senator Ryan pointed out that nobody will turn off the tap overnight but supplies of fossil fuels will only last a few more decades and we need to be more imaginative on this issue.

It is inconceivable that we can continue to be 90% dependent on fossil fuels when mother nature has provided us with so many possibilities in terms of wind energy. It is unacceptable that a queue has formed for connection to the grid, although the announcement by the Minister of a renewable energy feed-in tariff represents progress on this issue. Senator Kenneally discussed his constituent, whose wind turbines face planning objections. We should encourage rather than impede these developments.

We should also encourage the development of ethanol plants in the former sugar factory in Mallow and elsewhere, not least because the increased production of rapeseed and sugar beet would throw a lifeline to farmers. These crops would not grow well in my part of the country but farmers there have other options, including willow and miscanthus. I am not sure if we are regarding these matters with the importance they deserve. They must go to the top of the Government's agenda. Other welcome initiatives include the greener home scheme but we should give people incentives to do more.

Senator Minihan discussed the ocean energy strategy, which was published some weeks ago and has massive export potential. However, I cannot overemphasise the need for investment in research and development so that projects can come onstream as quickly as possible. Instead of merely trying to meet our European commitments, we should strive to become leaders in the field.

In terms of security of supply, we have storage for 100 days of oil but no large-scale storage facility for gas supplies. This issue needs to be addressed.

As Tipp O'Neill said, all politics are local, so I want to discuss the supply of natural gas to the north west. I have it in writing from the former Minister of State at the Department of Public Enterprise with special responsibility for energy, Deputy Jacob, that gas would be supplied to the region. In a debate some weeks ago, I inquired about advertisements for tenders for a feasibility study on the construction of a gas pipeline to County Donegal via County Sligo and was told that the study was to be made available in early 2007 and would comprise a cost-benefit analysis and an examination of the possibility of connecting a gas-fired electricity generation plant to the pipeline. However, that is unacceptable because it was announced in the past that gas would be supplied to the region. I have claimed on a number of occasions that the people of the west of Ireland feel that the Corrib gas field belongs to them. The great British colonists came and took resources back to their motherland without sharing the benefits with local inhabitants. There are no natural gas facilities north of a line between Dublin and Galway and west of Mullingar. We do not want any more feasibility studies. DKM already carried out a study for Bord Gáis and, in any event, it should not require one and a half years to complete.

Without Government subvention, a cost-benefit analysis will indicate that the construction of a pipeline to County Donegal is not viable. However, a true spatial strategy requires the building of capacity to create demand and correct regional imbalances. It is a no-brainer. The people and the industries of that region feel they are entitled to it. There have been announcements in the past. Why is there another feasibility study? What will it show that we do not already know? Can we not proceed, make the subvention available, remind Bord Gáis Eireann that the subvention allows it to be true to its commercial mandate while supplying natural gas to the people of the north west? The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, in a contribution on a Private Members' motion in the Dáil some weeks ago mentioned in his opening line: "The Government has one aim in managing Ireland's oil and gas resources, to benefit the citizen." I could not agree more, but the citizens of Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal are no less citizens than those in Carlow, Mallow and Cork city. I am deviating slightly from the motion but I appeal to Deputy Fahey, while it is not his Department's direct responsibility, to talk to his colleagues and encourage them to move it forward. It is in the national development plan and is one of the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. Let us dispense with reports and feasibility studies and move forward. Like Senator Kenneally I will paraphrase Winston Churchill and say action is needed now.