Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-24
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Michael Collins (II), Cork South-West

I will be a singing a different tune because the farmers of west Cork were disappointed this morning that they are only going to get 2 cent off the green diesel. Those are the facts. The facts are that the Government made these promises to me in 2022 about renewable energies. It has not delivered. That is the bottom line here. Ireland's energy security is hanging by a thread. We cannot keep relying on imported diesel in global markets we have no control over. The Government's promise in 2022 was more offshore wind farms but the only one we have has sought a decommissioning licence. When will the first of these offshore wind generating plants be developed in Ireland?
I am bringing forward a proposal for Ireland's first zero emission freight corridor pilot scheme from Cork Port to west Cork, not alone as a climate measure but as a real energy security solution. We have the experts to do this. Electricity heavy duty trucks supported by a battery swapping and hybrid charging depot in filling stations would slash our dependence on foreign fuels. Every diesel truck on this route today burns fuel that Ireland does not produce and cannot guarantee. Battery swapping turns trucks around in about five minutes powered by local renewable energy keeping supply chains stable even when a global fuel market goes wild. This protects family-run haulers by giving them a secure affordable energy source. This is not experimental. This system is already fully operational in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Japan and works. This deserves full support from the Government. Will we get it?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:03+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-24