John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There has been a substantial impact on international wholesale energy prices. We have seen a substantial impact on gas prices, especially in Ireland, which has had a knock-on impact on energy prices. That is clear for everybody to see. Gas prices have been rising steadily since March 2020 for a variety of international reasons. They are currently unseasonably high, which puts upward pressure on wholesale electricity prices. That is not just affecting this country but many European states across the Continent. We have to ask ourselves what the best approach is to protect the Irish consumer in the face of rising energy costs. The best long-term approach to doing that, and what is our primary response as a Government towards a potential energy crisis, is to insulate Irish consumers from volatility in international wholesale energy markets by substantial investment in energy efficiency and, most important, renewable energy.

In recent months, that investment has come in many guises, shapes and forms. For example, building on our existing large capital budget for home energy upgrades of low-income homes ensures that lessening and alleviating energy poverty is a key consideration of the national retrofit programme, which is due to be published in the coming weeks. It also ensures that finances raised by increases in the carbon tax are ring-fenced to protect those who are most vulnerable against fuel poverty and higher fuel and energy costs. It supports a just transition for displaced workers and investment in a range of climate-related actions. It utilises the tax and social welfare aspects used by the Government, which we have seen in budget 2022, to increase the living alone allowance, the qualified child payment and the income threshold for the working family payment. These measures are in addition to adjustments to basic welfare and pension rates we have implemented that go a long way towards protecting Irish consumers.

Ireland is transitioning from the use of fossil fuels for generating electricity to using a majority of wind, solar and solar renewables. As was said at a recent meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action, natural gas will be used as a backup. Natural gas is deemed to be low carbon. However, it is still a fossil fuel. We have seen this year how fluctuations in gas prices can affect wholesale electricity costs and threaten Irish consumers with very high energy costs. I met a friend this morning, Ultan Murphy in Dundalk, who I have been meeting for the past year and who is a proponent of nuclear energy, an issue Senator Keogan has discussed. We should be able to have a conversation about nuclear energy. That is all I am asking for. The 1999 Act that outlaws nuclear power in this country has been mentioned. Nuclear power is completely carbon free. It is used in developed countries all over the world, such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States. I accept people might be opposed to nuclear power for whatever reason. They may think it is impossible to build a nuclear power station in the next ten or 20 years. If we had seen 20 years ago that we would be moving towards a renewable source of energy in this country, and around the world, people would have thought that was unlikely.

Ireland already consumes nuclear energy via our interconnector with the UK. It should at least be discussed and we should have a conversation about it as a viable option compared to all other possible scenarios. We have recently seen Ursula von der Leyen join ten EU countries in calling for nuclear power to be included in the EU's taxonomy for clean energy. It already generates 26% of the EU's energy consumption. Ursula von der Leyen stated that:

We need more renewables. They are cheaper, carbon-free and homegrown. We also need a stable source [of energy], nuclear, and during the transition, gas [also].

After I spoke to Ultan this morning, I read an article about a group of ten EU countries, led by France, that have asked the European Commission to recognise nuclear energy as a low-carbon energy source that should be part of the block's decades-long transition towards climate neutrality. Indeed, more than 90% of the EU's natural gas comes from foreign imports, with Russia as the main producer. This great dependency has been credited as one of the main factors behind the rise in energy prices. Supply tensions will be more frequent and we have no choice but to diversify our supply.

In 100 years' time, Ireland and other developed countries will be using nuclear power. We should not be bogged down by short-term thinking over the next ten or 20 years. We should have an open and honest discussion. I am simply asking that we have that conversation and that is all. We are at our best as a society when we challenge ideas, pit arguments against each other and get the best overall solution. We should be having a conversation about nuclear energy. If it turns out to be an idea that will not be useful in Ireland, or suit it, that is fair enough, but let us have the conversation and the debate in the first instance.