Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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101. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the degree of Ireland's energy dependence by country in tabular form; and the estimated timeline it would take for Ireland to achieve energy independence. [18422/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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EU Eurostat figures show that the average import dependency rates of EU Member States is 61%, with Ireland's import dependency higher than the average at 69%. A full table of import dependency figures by Member State is published by Eurostat. Ireland imports all its oil. It accounts for 45% of Ireland’s primary energy requirement, which is one of the highest rates of oil dependency in the EU. Of this, the majority is used in transport. There is also significant oil use in residential and business heating and in industry.

Ireland sources roughly one-quarter of its natural gas from the Corrib gas field. Three-quarters is sourced via the interconnector from the UK, which has diverse sources of supply. Natural gas accounts for 34% of Ireland’s primary energy requirement and is used in electricity generation, the industrial sector and heating homes.

The third largest primary energy source for Ireland is from renewables, which makes up 13% of our total requirement. The share of renewable energy in Ireland's primary supply has increased from 2.3% to 13% since 2005, just under a factor of 6 increase. Wind is the second largest source of generated electricity, after natural gas. In 2020, wind generation accounted for 36.1% of all electricity generated in Ireland, which is one of the highest rates in the EU.

The best way to secure our energy needs is to continue to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy. Ireland’s 2021 Climate Action Plan sets us on a pathway to reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels dramatically by 2030, in the context of reaching net-zero emission by 2050. However, as set out in the November 2021 Government Policy Statement on Security of Electricity of Supply, there will be a continued need beyond 2030 for gas-fired conventional generation to support and back-up high levels of renewable electricity.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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103. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the efforts that the Government is undertaking both unilaterally and with colleagues in the European Union to address the current fuel crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15349/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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At its meeting on 24 and 25 March 2022, the European Council agreed to phase out its dependency on Russian gas, oil and coal imports as soon as possible, as set out in the Versailles Declaration. The Versailles Declaration is clear that Europe needs to phase out our dependency on Russian energy imports.In playing its role to deliver upon these commitments, Ireland must ensure we meet our climate ambitions, deliver affordable energy and ensure secure supplies of energy. Ireland has been very clear in its support for the accelerated reduction of our reliance on fossil fuels, particularly through the roll-out of energy efficiency and renewable energies.   In terms of Oil, markets rose steeply in response to the war in Ukraine and this fed quickly into higher pump prices.  Acknowledging the impact on transport fuels, the Government introduced an Excise reduction on March 8 which led to a 20 cent per litre reduction in petrol and a 15 cent per litre reduction in diesel. 

Since the onset of the conflict, I have been in regular contact with EU and International counterparts through the IEA and EU structures to monitor the fast moving situation and to agree co-ordinated responses. My Department is also in daily contact with the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) and the oil industry, represented by Fuels for Ireland (FFI), in order to monitor supplies into the State.  

Ireland’s policy of holding a Strategic Oil Reserve equivalent to 90 days supply is required by both its membership of the EU and the International Energy Agency (IEA) and this role is performed by NORA. These reserves are ready to be deployed as necessary.

In order to help alleviate global supply concerns that emerged immediately on foot of the war in Ukraine, member countries of the IEA, including Ireland, participated in a co-ordinated release of strategic reserves that amounted to 60 million barrels. Ireland’s share of this release amounted to 222,000 barrels.