Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, is very welcome. I congratulate him on his elevation into this role.

I would like to ask the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications a simple question: where does nuclear power fit into Ireland's energy future? I ask this not in the abstract but with real urgency because the Celtic interconnector is due to come online in 2026. It is time we faced reality. Right now, under Irish law, Eirgrid is legally barred from using electricity generated by nuclear fission, yet in practice we import it anyway. In 2020, nearly 1% of our electricity came from British nuclear plants. What we have is a legal ban that does not stop nuclear energy; it just stops us from talking honestly about it.

We are standing on a tightrope. On one hand there are rising energy demands, not least from data centres that could consume up to 40% and maybe even 70% of our electricity within a decade. On the other, there is a plan to phase out fossil fuels without a reliable replacement. That is not a transition; that is a gamble. We need to ask what happens if the wind does not blow. What happens when the grid is under pressure? People working from home, families trying to stay warm in winter and small businesses already squeezed by costs are the ones who pay the price. In some cases, that price is more than financial; it is about well-being and even survival.

The word "nuclear" still makes some people nervous but this is not 1986. Technologies have changed, safe standards have changed and our climate challenge has changed. We need clean, reliable and consistent energy and nuclear can deliver that. France knows this. That is why more than 65% of its electricity comes from nuclear power. That is the power that we will be connecting to with the Celtic interconnector. Here is the contradiction: we ban nuclear generation while plugging ourselves into a system that runs on it elsewhere. That is not leadership; that is outsourcing our responsibility. If the Minister believes, as his predecessor said, that nuclear is part of our future, when will we stop pretending that it is not part of our present? Let us bring clarity to this conversation. Let us amend the legislation or at the very least open a serious national review on the role nuclear could play and should play. We owe it to ourselves and to the people of this country to plan for the future, not just posture for it.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank my friend and former colleague for the gracious introduction. It is the first time I have had an opportunity to be back in the Seanad since my election to the other House. I have fond memories of my ten years here. It was five years at the beginning and five more recently. I thank Senator again for that and I look forward to being back on many occasions in the future.

I also thank the Senator for raising this important issue. As she knows, the Government has an energy vision to fulfil the commitment to increase the proportion of renewable electricity to 80% by 2030. In Ireland, nuclear powered electricity generation plants remain prohibited and there are no plans to change this position. The Seanad has previously debated the option of nuclear energy as part of a broader debate on carbon policy and the practical challenges outlined relating to nuclear generation in Ireland are still relevant and still exist. The priority of the Government is on taking urgent action to make electricity generation in Ireland more sustainable. The climate action plan sets out a roadmap to halve Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The annual climate action plans to date have also recognised the need for a range of supporting measures to enable the transformation of the electricity sector. This will involve the development of a balanced portfolio of technologies to facilitate the energy transition complementing other measures, such as demand-side response, network development and interconnection to support a grid with increased levels of renewable electricity.

I am delighted that the Senator has highlighted the Celtic interconnector, which will return Ireland's most direct connectivity to the European electricity market. That will have benefits for consumers too. This means greater energy security and increased system resilience for Ireland, the importance of which has been highlighted by recent events on the Iberian Peninsula. Interconnection facilitates the system balancing necessary to incorporate variable renewables. It assists in managing our emissions targets and enables Ireland to take advantage of the energy mixes of our energy partners mitigating the domestic infrastructural investment burden. Interconnectors also create competitive market pressures designed to drive down costs to the consumer, all of which the Senator identified as constraints and concerns from an Irish perspective.

As set out in the national policy statement on electricity interconnection in 2023, Ireland is on course to increase its connectivity capacity fivefold this decade. The Greenlink interconnector commenced commercial operations in January, doubling existing connectivity capacity. The Celtic interconnector will be operational in 2027. A further connection to the UK, MaresConnect, is currently progressing its regulatory and permitting journey. Ireland’s energy vision is clear. We do not have uranium. We do have some of the best offshore wind resources in the world. Building on the renewables progress on land, the east coast offshore wind farms are at planning permission stage following the first offshore renewable electricity support scheme, ORESS. Looking beyond 2030, the Oireachtas approved its first offshore renewable designated maritime area plan, DMAP off the south coast, with a further ORESS planned this year. Building on that vital experience Ireland will be progressing a national offshore renewable electricity, ORE, DMAP intended to deliver a further 15 GW of offshore wind generation. We intend to make further announcements on that later in the summer.

We intend to take advantage of the energy domestically delivering decarbonised economic growth. The programme for Government also commits Ireland to positioning itself as a future electricity operator, with Irish wind facilitating the achievement by our energy partners of their climate and energy goals. Further electricity interconnection will be key to that. We are working directly with the UK, France and Belgium to explore further connection. We are also working through regional fora, such as the North Seas Energy Cooperation and the Offshore TSO Collaboration. We are also working with the European Commission to help shape the evolution of European energy policy and to make Ireland central to Europe's shared energy future.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. I can clearly see that we are going to rely on offshore resources going forward for the electricity provision for this country. That is not good enough. It will not do. As he well knows, many of these are at early stages. We are now in 2025. Many of these projects are going to be held up by planning. We are not going to reach that 2030 target. I am not saying that the discussion revolving around this nuclear option will happen within five years either but it is a conversation that this Government should be willing to have. We are already taking in nuclear power through the back door. We are outsourcing that responsibility to the French. Let us be brave. That is what leadership is about. Sometimes we have to take very difficult decisions to be of the best advantage to the people that we represent. I am disappointed with this. Our energy vision is not good enough and nuclear energy is part of that. I wish to see our Government move towards that provision.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The Senator firmly believes in this and is passionate about it. I do not question the sincerity but I have to tell her what the Government position is. She raised an important point about the planning permissions that are required even to get wind turbines in place. There is significant pushback against that on land.The plan is that at sea, we believe there will be fewer objections because it is away from the shore. If it is difficult to get planning permissions for turbines I am sure the Senator will accept that trying to move the public towards nuclear reactors in Ireland is a whole new ball game. I suspect that whatever potential difficulties there might be on planning for either offshore or onshore wind turbines, I would not underestimate the complications and the push back from the public if we were to move on nuclear reactors onshore, even to get basic grid capacity. The Senator will be aware from her own general area and the North-South interconnector how communities are so averse to any infrastructure like that. I believe the best chance we have of energy security is to harness the huge potential that is offshore.

I do take the point, and Senator Keogan makes it very well, that the wind does not blow all the time. Work is ongoing when the wind is blowing in a significant way and the demand is not there. Through electrolysis it can be converted to hydrogen and onwards to ammonia, which is a stable source of securing the energy and storing it.

There is an overarching plan and maybe we will have a debate in the House again at some stage if Members want to do that where I can set out much more broadly the Government's vision for a safe and secure supply of electricity to meet our targets. I thank the Senator again for her interest.