Energy Security: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-29 ============================================================ Lorraine Clifford-Lee (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach I thank the Minister for coming in to discuss this important topic. It is of such importance that it should be on the schedule regularly. Energy security is at the forefront of our minds currently but it should remain so. It is what will drive global geopolitical conflict in the future. It is the question of our time and we need to prepare adequately. We have had a couple of shocks with the invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East. We know insecurity is coming and we know our vulnerabilities. As the Minister said, as a small open economy historically reliant on fossil fuels, Ireland is particularly vulnerable to global price shocks. We know that, and we have been well insulated by the measures that he and his colleagues in government have taken. However, now that we have some time to assess how we move forward, we should grasp the opportunity with both hands. I am sure the Minister will have the co-operation of all parties across this House and the Lower House to discuss our situation, our vulnerabilities and our opportunities, and to ascertain how we can move forward. We have the economic firepower to ensure our economic resilience, our energy resilience and the future of our country, as well as to maintain economic success. We need to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and that is widely acknowledged. We have done a lot and in this regard, the Minister has outlined specific instances of where we have increased our solar and wind energy output. Education is key. We are becoming more educated in relation to energy conservation and generation and the impacts of various energy sources. There should be a national conversation brought to people so we can see the difference that a deep retrofit of a house can make, the difference that solar panels by themselves can make and how each individual household can play its part in ensuring the country is resilient when it comes to our energy situation. The interconnector with Spain brokered by the Minister is a positive development and is to be welcomed. It is a job well done. The doubling of wind capacity onshore has been significant. As the Minister pointed out, we are a world leader. However, we are falling down with offshore wind energy and we need to address that. As an island on the Atlantic, we have an abundance of good wind that can be harnessed and used. It could become the equivalent of Ireland striking oil. We have wind and the money to invest in infrastructure. We need to be careful that we do not sell off our natural resources to private entities. We need to look at the Norway model and see the good that it put its oil strike to. That is what we can do. We have the capacity. I know the Minister is very conscious, as a Republican and a nationalist, of keeping our national resources within State ownership for the benefit of the people of this country. The position as regards jet fuel is good to hear. Many of us have summer holidays planned and are hoping to be able to take them. As an island nation, all jokes aside, we are heavily reliant on our ability to fly in and out of this island. We also rely on it for business and world leaders to come here. Securing our jet fuel position is very welcome. I thank the Minister for the update. We will have to touch on the blockades on oil refineries in the course of this debate. It was a very unpleasant situation. The Minister was dealing with the situation as it emerged and many Members of the Houses were dealing with people in our constituencies. Across the board, people were horrified by the blockades on our oil refineries. We need to ensure that does not happen again. We need to take steps to protect vital infrastructure such as oil refineries. The Minister might take the opportunity to address how we will move forward and protect oil refineries through dialogue and co-operation and by emphasising their importance. The 85-day buffer the Minister referred to is positive but is 85 days enough? Is there capacity to increase that? That is information that I would like to have. The elephant in the room when we talk about energy security is the issue of nuclear energy. That conversation is starting quietly. Traditionally and legally we cannot have nuclear energy. However, the Minister needs to have conversations, if he is not already having them, in the Department and the Government, about how we can explore the issue. The issue is so taboo that it has been off the table. I do not know whether any of us have had a chance to form a position on it. We should be afforded that chance. Maybe nuclear energy is something we will never touch. Maybe this generation of politician will not be in favour of it. It is incumbent on the Government, however, to have a public conversation that politicians can take part in. It is important to consider all energy sources because we cannot afford, as a country, to be vulnerable. We are in a relatively vulnerable position. As we know, in France over 60% of energy is produced through nuclear power. France is our near neighbour and has been successfully using it. We have the technical expertise and scientific knowledge in this country to have a reasoned and measured debate. I would like to have that so that we can see what our position is and put all options on the table. Then we can exclude the options, if needs be. We are putting ourselves in a very vulnerable position if we are only looking at solar and wind energy, although I very much welcome those. I welcome the increase in supports the Minister put in place for households to retrofit their homes and do the upgrades in a piecemeal fashion. That is something many of us have been calling for. I would like to see those supports increased. While they are welcome, they can still be out of reach for many ordinary families. If there was capacity in the budget to increase those supports, it would be welcome. However, this cannot be the only solution. We need at least to have a fully informed public debate on the possibility of adopting nuclear energy. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-29/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-29