Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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120. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the engagements that he has had in recent weeks regarding the security and cost of the State’s energy supply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45631/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 96 and 120 together.

Russia's unjustified and unprovoked war against Ukraine has highly impacted energy in Europe. EU countries are closely coordinating actions to tackle these rising prices and secure our energy.I have attended five meetings of the EU Council of Ministers for Energy since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February to exchange views on and to respond to the energy situation in the EU. The most recent Energy Council meeting, on 9 September 2022, was split into two parts, the first sessions covering policy options to alleviate the burden of high energy prices and the second session on the state of play of the preparedness of Member States for the coming winter.

In respect of the extremely high energy prices discussion, the Council coveredfour main areas in which the Member States expect the Commission to act. These include capping the revenues of electricity producers that face low production costs; a possible price cap on gas; measures for a coordinated electricity demand reduction across the EU and measures that would help to solve the issue of decreased liquidity.

The Commission have since proposed legislation and this is already under urgent negotiation by Member States in order to have agreement by the end of the month. We are supportive of the overall approach being taken by the Commission and will cooperate closely with other Member States to get the Regulation agreed swiftly.

the Council discussion also covered the state of preparedness of Member States for this winter. Member States have carried out several actions both at national and EU level. They have in particular adopted a regulation to fill gas storages and share them in a spirit of solidarity, diversified supply sources and committed to reducing gas demand by 15% this winter. EU underground gas reserves have been filled to 82.5% of their capacity, well ahead of the 1 November deadline set in the gas storage regulation.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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97. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will examine the current liberalised energy system and its impact on energy prices; if his Department will look at the policies of other states who have moved to some forms of renationalisation of energy generation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45745/22]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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102. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will examine the current liberalised energy system and its impact on energy prices; if his department will look at the policies of other States that have moved to some forms of renationalisation of energy generation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45740/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 and 102 together.

Russia's unjustified and unprovoked war against Ukraine has highly impacted energy in Europe. EU countries are closely coordinating actions to tackle rising energy prices and ensure security of our energy supplies. These problems are being faced by all EU Member States and a united, determined and immediate response is being taken by the EU as stated by President von der Leyen in her State of the Union Address this week.

The Commission has proposed a number of short-term exceptional emergency measures in recent days which include a proposal incentivising coordinated electricity demand-reduction across the EU. Other proposals include capping the revenues of inframarginal electricity producers with low costs of production and introducing a solidarity contribution from fossil fuel companies to be used to mitigate the impact of high energy prices on customers.

Concerning the medium/longer-term improvements to the market framework, the European Commission is carrying out a review of the electricity market and will propose adjustments to the functioning of electricity markets supported by an impact assessment.

Any proposals to amend the market structure should be based on detailed analysis and evaluation in order to fully understand the implications and consequences of any changes regarding green energy transition investment and net zero objectives, security of supply, and the integrity of the single electricity market.