Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to raise the worrying trend of the creeping up of oil prices and, in particular, the recent spike in the price of a barrel of oil. The rise has abated but only slightly on account of the increase in production by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, or the release of crude oil.

While it all sounds very international, it has real consequences for our economy. Stock exchange traders are telling us that in the medium to long-term we are looking at an increase in oil prices. It serves to remind us how dependent we are on oil for transport and heat, and how, notwithstanding our great ambitions, we are not making great inroads to displacing our dependence on fossil fuels. Not only has this the ability to impact on business and on how we operate commercially, it impacts on the ordinary household as well. When a person goes to the petrol pump, she pays for oil or diesel and for home heating oil as well. This eats into disposable income of people in spite of all the hard-won gains resulting from increased employment. Many people are also paying over-the-top mortgage interest rates, but that is another debate. It has to be a critical concern.

This has to be a clarion call for us to get something done with regard to alternative fuel sources for oil and heating. At the moment, even the SEAI grant to upgrade a boiler involves replacing it with an oil-fired central heating boiler. It is the same in local authority housing, where those responsible are upgrading the heating systems but are putting in oil and nothing else.

The battery car seems to be more of a novelty than a reality, notwithstanding that we encourage people to switch. There are not many hybrids and they will be seen as transitional. There have been drives to encourage liquefied petroleum gas but the technology has not been rolled out for commercial fleets or heavy goods vehicles. We are far behind. It is amazing.

The Citizens' Assembly considered climate change. The headline was to the effect that we should put another carbon tax on farmers. There is a great deal of ignorance on the issue. It would be another good reason for the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, to come to the House, especially since the European Commissioner, Mr. Hogan, told us that our 2020 renewable energy targets will not be rolled over to 2030 and we could face fines of at least €600 million per year. That is only estimated since the European Court of Justice would decide the fine. This is critical and urgent. It has the potential to stymie our economic growth, impact on households and prevent us from achieving our climate change targets. Will the Minister come to the House for a serious debate on the matter?