Cian O'Callaghan: Why Ireland Is Failing on Renewables

Go raibh maith agat, Láis Féin Comhairle. Tánaiste, níl ceanntinas guaithe againn an Éireann, tá níorth guaithe againn. We're a windy island on the edge of the Atlantic. Our potential for clean, cheap energy is immense. We could and should be a green energy superpower, exporting electricity to the rest of Europe. Instead we are laggards. People are still paying the highest electricity bills in Europe. There are now over 300,000 households in arrears. People unable to pay for the basics in a country that is supposedly rich. Tánaiste, 523 million euro worth of wind energy was wasted last year because of our crumbling grid infrastructure. That's 10% of all the wind energy produced. Meanwhile your government's insatiable appetite for data centres is cannibalising any increase in renewable capacity. Red carpet is rolled out for data centres while people freeze in their homes. It does not need to be like this, should not be like this. Fine Gael has been in power for 15 years. 15 years and not one single offshore wind farm built in this country. 15 years without proper investment in the grid. 15 years of being chained to volatile gas prices in a time of global uncertainty. Tánaiste, wholesale electricity prices in Ireland are nearly four times higher than in Spain. Spain is now producing enough solar and wind energy that electricity prices are no longer tied to gas. While your government has dithered and delayed, Spain has delivered. Tánaiste, we can act quickly by rolling out solar panels. They're relatively cheap, easy to install and immediately bring down people's electricity bills. However, according to the ESRI, your government's grants are out of reach for those struggling to pay their bills. Tánaiste, this failure to deliver, it's not abstract. It's felt by ordinary people every time they're hit with a bill. This is the legacy of your party's decade and a half in government. You have the resources to help people now while investing in our future energy security. We should have wind farms in our seas and solar panels on every home in the country. Our bills should be some of the cheapest in Europe, not the most expensive. Tánaiste, will you support the Social Democrats' solar for all plan to break our dependence on fossil fuels and give struggling households the clean and cheap electricity they need? Thanks very much to Deputy O'Connell. I'll come back again at a time when we've longer than three minutes to debate my party's record in government, but I'll debate it anywhere with anybody at any time in terms of the state we inherited this country in in 2011 and the progress we've collectively made with our coalition colleagues since then and the progress that this country has seen across a whole variety of economic and social issues. But perhaps that's for another day, but I'm not going to have a kind of a just a kind of widespread snide slur made on the record of my party. You are right though in terms of the need to do more when it comes to renewable energy and I've already said in this house, to be fair, that your party has put forward ideas that definitely merit consideration. I think some of the ideas that you've made around the solar, I said this I think last week, I do think merit further consideration and we as a government will be looking at what more can be done to assist with what is an energy crisis for the world and an energy affordability crisis for many people in the budget in October. We have taken a number of measures in the here and now to try and assist people with fuel prices, Mr. Hayden and this fuel support scheme for farmers as an example with over 3,000 people applying so far, a scheme for hauliers, reduction in fuel at the pump and also changes that have been made by Minister O'Brien in terms of retrofitting grants that I think we are genuinely seeing good responses to, very significant increase in the number of people looking for example to get windows replaced, doors replaced, solar panels this year and last year, that is going in the right direction. We have also seen just to not be, and I'm not suggesting you are, but sometimes we can be fatalistic about climate and climate action and our ability to make progress. We did see the EPA's most recent emission report only in recent days confirming progress for this country. Ireland has recorded overall greenhouse, Ireland's recorded, excuse me, overall greenhouse gas emissions have reduced for a third consecutive year, so we've managed to grow the economy and reduce our carbon emissions, proving that it's not a choice between economic growth and climate sustainability. We've seen a decrease of 6.8% in 2023, a further decrease of 2% in 2024. Ireland now has the lowest level of greenhouse gas emissions in 35 years, which is notable given the fact that our population has increased by 1.5 million people in that time. There's more than 1 million new homes in that time and there's 1 million extra vehicles on our roads in that time as well, so we are making progress in relation to this. We've seen electricity generation from renewables increase fivefold since 2005. In February, only a couple of months ago, wind energy provided a record 50% of our electricity and Ireland has now reached a record circa around 8 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity, up from only 4.8 gigawatts in 2020. So we are making objectively real progress in terms of our switch to renewables, that is true, and you're not saying it but all too often it's a question of do you want this or do you want that? We have to continue to grow our economy, we have to continue to grow our economy and not suggest it's a choice between being on the side of the planet or on the side of economic growth. It's possible to do both, this country is proof of that. You have put forward constructive ideas in relation to more we should be doing around solar and we will give consideration to that in the time ahead. Deputy O'Connor. Tony, so you're 15 years in government, you don't have a single offshore wind farm to show for that entire time, have you nothing to say for yourself? We should be a net exporter of clean electricity to Europe, instead we are one of the biggest exporter, importers of fossil fuels in Europe. We've the highest electricity bills in Europe because of your failure to deliver in terms of renewable energy. It's fine for you to say repeatedly, oh we're putting forward good ideas that you'll look at, they have merit, but we need you to act. People in arrears on their electricity bills need you to act. So why are you considering talking about saying they have merit? Why don't you actually take our proposals to roll out solar on the scale that we need, bring down people's energy bills by about 40% their electricity bills, break our dependence on fossil fuels and take the kind of action that we need to be a world leader in renewable energy, not a laggard. Why is it taking you so long to act in these areas, Tonisha? So I've loads to say for myself I can assure you. I'm in a government and leading a party in a government that's managing to see emissions fall in this country for three years in a row, while growing the economy, creating more jobs, seeing wages rise and seeing more homes built. So it is entirely possible to do more than one thing at a time in government and it's not fair to say that we're not making progress when it comes to climate. We objectively are making progress when it comes to climate and we're proving that unlike the ideology of some, it's actually possible to grow the economy and do it in a sustainable way as well. And I've never bought into this view that it's a choice between one or the other, because yes we need to protect the planet, we also need to make sure people have jobs and these data centers aren't the bogeyman that you like to paint them. They're a very important part of our economic model in this country, fueling literally jobs and economic growth and taxation right across the country. But you'll then come in here next week with an idea for me how to spend the taxes. Before we spend money in Ireland, we have to generate money in Ireland and the NTMA gave a very significant warning I think to this Iraq this today. When's the last time anyone's come into this house with an idea as to how to grow the economy rather than just spend more money. We will look at more ideas around solar in the time ahead. We've already taken action, more people qualifying for fuel allowance than ever before, more people qualifying for the household benefits, reducing the excise on diesel, reducing the excise on petrol, support scheme for the farmers, support scheme for the whole years. We're not having a mini-budget every Thursday. We're not having a mini-budget every Thursday.