Energy Policy
Dail Éireann — 2021-09-16
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Eamon Ryan (GP), Dublin Bay South

Yes, we are. Critically, EirGrid and CRU are engaging first with industrial customers, which may have demand flexibility. As I said earlier, given that we have such a high level of renewables in our system, we are good at this type of demand management and balancing between variable demand and variable supply. The first people to turn to, therefore, are some of the large industrial users to see whether they can manage their processes and production use.
Nevertheless, for all of us the signal should be clear. Reliance on fossil fuels and betting on that as the solution for the future does not make sense. Rather, we should invest in energy efficiency, and in retrofitting and improving our building stock in order that our demand for energy, electricity and all its uses decreases. The issue of high energy prices, which is a real issue now throughout Europe, will attract misinformation suggesting that this is all because of the transition to low carbon, but it is not. It is because of a spike in fossil fuel energy and this should be a message to us. The sooner we can remove our reliance on that uncertain supply, the better off we will be.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-09-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-09-16