Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I raise this matter and call on the Government and European Union to act swiftly to deal with the dumping of electricity generated by renewable sources, particularly in rural areas. I can speak only in real terms of County Donegal. The situation there, as I know it, is that most of the energy produced by the wind farms and hydro station is currently dumped and wasted. In the current climate, with the price people are paying for electricity, it is not good enough. I have with me the EirGrid implementation plan for 2023 to 2028. It is not fit for purpose for the western seaboard or places like County Donegal. The north, north west and west are the points with the greatest ability to create that energy into the future but we are not planning for it. Our network is not fit for purpose.

What plans are there, over and above what is in the plan, to move this issue on and to ensure that when we develop offshore wind, the network is fit for purpose? Someone needs to drive this at European level. The European Union should be driving on, considering what we have gone through since the war in Ukraine. Current technology should be used to join up all member states to ensure we can buy and sell electricity to each country as needed. What I see in front of me does not give any answers or conclusions as to when County Donegal will have the network required. Currently, we dump between 21 and 22 hours of our resources out of 24 hours per day. That is an awful indictment and an awful waste. Donegal is one of the biggest contributors in renewable energy yet we are dumping it. It is not good enough. I want to hear solutions and the plan for what will be done. There must be some way of putting it into the network because we cannot afford to let what is happening go on.