Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This morning, international headlines are advising us that the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil has gone up. Since yesterday morning, it has gone up by 12%. This arises from the agreement of OPEC countries to restrict the supply of oil on the market. If anything, it is an international story, but it tells us in Ireland that we are not rich in fossil fuels. The fortunes of our people and businesses are out of our hands and in the control of OPEC, which can cause misery to suit itself and the oil industry. OPEC can either let the oil flow or restrict it, which has massive ramifications for us. If ever a case underpinned the need to diversify from our dependency on fossil fuels, we see it there. We do not want to be the puppets.

Coming closer to home, I note the recent publication of the EPA's Ireland's Environment 2016 document. While we are talking a lot more about the need for a reduction in carbon emissions and to invest in renewables, the figures published by the EPA are still paltry. Only 23% of our electricity in 2015 came from renewable energy sources. I compare that with Scotland where 97% of electricity comes from wind generation. My mind boggles at that because I know the wind does not blow all the time, but they obviously have a lot of solutions for storing the electricity generated from wind. Equally, in respect of our binding EU 2020 targets, only 8.5% of our total energy requirement is being met from renewable sources. We need to be at 20% by 2020.

One of the suggestions in the EPA report is that we should stop subsidising fossil fuels. This means the winter fuel allowance paid to social welfare recipients. We need the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, to come to the House to discuss how we are going to chart our path. Substantial investment in this area is required and somebody is going to pay the price. Obviously, we cannot push those who are already hard-pressed into further fuel poverty. It is an opportune time to have this debate with the Minister and to ensure that all our citizens are on board in the context of a national dialogue on what we need to do to become less dependent on fossil fuels.