Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-14
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

Nobody in this House is irrelevant and we should all play a constructive role in debating. There are different views on this issue. Everyone brings their view. I said we did not have enough experts. My constituency colleague, Deputy Whitmore, may be much more expert on this, given her professional background, than I am. We should be hearing one another's ideas. That is the point I am making. We do not serve the people well when we shut down debates around issues as crucial as energy security and reduce those debates just to what we can do in the short term and the here and now. It is important to help people in the here and now, but people also want to know where we will get to. I have given my view on the primary prohibition in legislation. I do not think that serves the debate well. I welcome the Deputy's legislation on facilitating that discussion on why that prohibition is there and if it needs to change.
I note that the International Energy Agency, IEA, looked at some of this and published in December 2025 an independent expert assessment of our energy system with a specific focus on the role of the power sector to 2035. It is called Powering Ireland's Energy Future. It said Ireland had an opportunity to be a global leader in integrating variable renewable energies, particularly wind, into our energy system. It did not consider nuclear technology as feasible for inclusion in the Irish energy system in the timeframe out to 2035. However, let us have the debate. The Deputy's legislation is a constructive part of that.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:56+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-14