Irish energy sector
Government policy is hindering our ability to develop our energy sector and meet our needs.
Government policy is hindering our ability to develop our energy sector and meet our needs.
It was confirmed to me today that the Government did not even bother applying for a multi-billion euro EU scheme to fund biomethane production despite Ireland being ideally suited to its production, our agricultural sector seeking help to produce it and our dire need to replace increasingly expensive and scarce imported gas.
I asked why Ireland is one of just two European states which failed to apply for a €36bn EU funding initiative, aimed at ensuring continuity of energy supply.
The Government has shut down calls for a windfarm on the Clare / Galway border to be retained.
Responding on behalf of the Environment Minister to a query from Scariff Independent TD Michael McNamara, Minister Hildegarde Naughton explains that the site is now ‘unathorised’.
Energy security was and should be a fundamental part of Ireland’s independence.
The government needs to put measures in place now that will limit further increases in energy and food costs this winter.
Restrictions on burning turf, coal and briquettes will only work if people have an affordable alternative, but the Government is not providing such an alternative.
I voted against the Government last night. Like most TDs, I believe that we need to move towards a more environmentally sustainable way of heating our homes. But until those alternatives are put in place, we cannot penalise sections of our population who rely on turf to heat their homes.
Clare Independent TD Michael McNamara has urged the Irish government to make a fresh appeal to Brussels for approval to reduce VAT on home heating oil during the war in Ukraine, which is driving price increases.
Read MoreIndependent Clare TD Michael McNamara has criticised the Government’s policy of closing power stations during an energy crisis in the hope that they will eventually be replaced with green energy sources at an unspecified time in the future.
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