Ireland could follow Denmark's example by adopting an all-party approach to energy policy.
Such an approach could follow a new report showing that our dependency on imported fuels is running way above the EU average.
Minister for Natural Resources Noel Dempsey - he is responsible for energy policy - has said he "would be agreeable in principle to the overall thrust of the proposal, subject to confirmation of all-party agreement".
He was responding in a letter last week to Eamon Ryan TD, the Green Party's energy spokesman, who has proposed that the Oireachtas joint committee dealing with energy should set up a special sub-committee to agree on a long-term strategy.
This follows a presentation to TDs and senators on the joint committee last November by Anne Greta Holmsgaard, vice-chair of the energy committee of the Danish parliament, on the cross-party agreement they signed on energy efficiency in summer 2005.
"I hope that I can get all-party approval for the concept at a meeting of the joint committee on Wednesday, and that the new sub-committee can then be established very quickly to make an input into the new White Paper on energy policy," Mr Ryan said.
This would include setting national energy supply targets for 2020 and 2050 and the broad means of attaining them.
"Particular regard will be given to the implications of a peak in global oil production and our obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
The sub-committee would also lay down annual energy efficiency targets to 2020 to ensure implementation of a proposed new EU energy directive.
"Because of the long time frame within which energy strategy has to be set and then implemented by future governments, it makes sense to try and get all-party agreement on the broad targets and thrust of such a strategy," he told The Irish Times.
He added: "The benefit of such a cross-party and partnership approach is that it gives real certainty to householders, farmers and business people in the investment decisions each will have to make if we are to move away from our current high level of use of fossil fuels."
The latest Sustainable Energy Ireland report, published last week, shows that Ireland's dependency on imported energy (mostly oil, coal and natural gas) is 87 per cent - much higher than the EU average of 50 per cent.
It found that Ireland's demand for natural gas to generate electricity is expected to rise from 45 per cent in 2004 to 71 per cent in 2020. By then, most of the gas will have to be imported from Russia.
Another SEI report found that wind farms are now producing more electricity than Ardnacrusha and other hydro-power sources. This follows an 18 per cent rise in renewable energy production in 2004.
However, the report found that transport was the fastest growing sector in 2004 (up 4.4 per cent), accounting for almost one-third of all energy used, and that carbon-dioxide emissions began to rise again (by 1.1 per cent) after two years of reductions.
