In the Dail at the Transport Committee I pointed out that Ireland should be treated as a special case when it comes to energy requirements into the future. At the moment much of our gas is coming in from Russia and that is unlikely to change in the near future. It is a fact that a lot of bio-mass will have to be imported and that solar and wind energy are being subsidised which is unsustainable for the long term. We must also look into the possibilities for hydro power as well.
Into the future if there are 150,000 extra people working in our economy then there are certain to be extra cars on the road and we we would be hoping that younger farmers will be catering for larger herds on our farms so we have to be realistic with regard to our carbon output. I would prefer to see people working and living in rural areas than being hamstrung by unworkable energy laws coming from Europe. Energy efficiency is certainly desirable and we should all support it but we have to be realistic and Ireland should be treated separately given the recession that we have just been through