Dogma-driven energy policy is incoherent

Sir, – Recent controversy over Minister for Environment Eamon Ryan’s rejection of Barryroe and Inishkea oil and gas prospects off our coasts highlights in stark relief the incoherence and inconsistencies in Ireland’s energy policy.

The decision by the Coalition to reject and not support the development of the Barryroe, as well the Inishkea oil and gas fields, has been described as grossly irresponsible, only matched by the equally disastrous and bizarre decision to cease issuing oil and gas licences off our coast.

These decisions were taken when it was clearly evident that Ireland’s energy security was on a knife-edge, with Corrib fast dwindling, coupled with zero gas storage. Over 70 per cent of our gas supplies are imported from an increasingly unreliable and chaotic British establishment. Further significant quantities are pumped thousands of kilometres from Norway, with a huge carbon footprint, all through increasingly vulnerable pipelines.

Barryroe alone, just off the Cork coast, has independently proven reserves of over 300 million barrels of oil and copious quantities of clean natural gas, which if developed would afford us energy security for decades as baseload to notoriously unreliable Irish wind resources. In terms of nuclear, Mr Ryan’s bases his argument against nuclear energy on our lack of expertise or knowledge to even consider or discuss the new generation small-scale modular reactors, which many experts now agree would be ideal as zero-carbon baseload to renewables.

Can the EV doubts driving a decline in sales be overcome?

---

25 of the best new Irish restaurants to try this summer

---

Darragh Ó Sé: Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh was interested in everyone and had no ego

---

Cathal Crotty’s suspended sentence another example of how judicial system is failing women

---

Mr Ryan also correctly claims that nuclear would be expensive. The irony, however, is that while promoting wind and solar, we in Ireland don’t have the indigenous expertise, knowledge or infrastructure to develop giant offshore floating or fixed wind turbines or the associated ancillary equipment, as all the main players, expertise and manufacturers are foreign based and imported.

In addition, the Irish taxpayer is about to stump up over €20 billion to achieve the promised 5GW offshore capacity, which is no small change indeed.

Past and current energy policy defies common sense, economic sense and, most of all, environmental sense, and has clearly demonstrated that Ireland’s vital energy security is far too precious to be left in the hands of politicians, driven by short-term political expediency, grandstanding and dogma. – Yours, etc,

JOHN LEAHY,

Cork.