Ireland should seriously examine the idea of developing nuclear power as one way to reduce its future dependence on fossil fuels, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
The immediate focus of the Government was to speed up the development of offshore wind farms, to further boost the Republic’s supply of renewable energy sources, the Taoiseach said.
The energy crisis set off by the war in Iran and closure of key supply routes for oil and gas coming from the Gulf has put pressure on governments across the world as the price of fuel soars.
Speaking on Monday, Martin said the Government should explore “all avenues”, including the development of nuclear-fuelled energy.
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“We certainly should look and examine seriously options like nuclear power, simply examine the advances in technology that have occurred,” he said.
Fianna Fáil TD James O’Connor recently tabled legislation that would end a ban on developing nuclear power in the State, and that will be debated by the Dáil in the coming months.
Advances in nuclear technology, in particular around the development of small modular reactors, have lowered what was previously a very high bar required to build nuclear power plants on the time and cost front.
“We’ve witnessed over the last 50 years periodic moments of volatility and energy insecurity because of our over-reliance on imported fossil fuels,” Martin said.
The Republic had already made “significant progress” rolling out onshore wind production and solar power, he said. “The next big play for us is offshore wind and [a] significant amount of work has been put into that.
“So Ireland in the early 2030s will be in a strong position in terms of offshore wind combined with onshore wind, with solar.”
Martin was speaking in Yerevan, Armenia, where he was attending a summit of more than 40 European leaders.
Leader of the Green Party, Roderic O’Gorman, said the suggestion was “a distraction from what the Government actually needs to be doing, which is putting in the resources to speed up the delivery of offshore wind power.”
“Nuclear power would be incredibly expensive to introduce in Ireland and wouldn’t deliver cheaper bills for Irish households for at least 15 years. Offshore wind needs to be the focus of Government’s priorities, extra staff for An Commission Pleanala, investing in our ports so they can facilitate the building of turbines, adding more grid capacity.”
Tánaiste Simon Harris has previously said he had no “ideological opposition” to nuclear power in Ireland.
On Monday, attending a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels, he said Europe needed to be “restless” in securing its own energy supply.
“We cannot continue to have a situation where we rely on dirty imported fossil fuels from far-flung locations across the world … We have to be restless in terms of moving to renewables and in looking to at what we can do help households, businesses and our country and our European Union more broadly to be more energy resilient,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach said there had been “tentative moves in the right direction” in ongoing talks between the United States and Iran, to end Tehran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas is shipped.
“I would urge all parties to engage more intensively in dialogue to bring about a permanent cessation to hostilities,” he said.
The Government will take steps in the next budget to “alleviate the pressure on families and on workers” from steep rises in fuel and energy costs, he said.
“The precise means by which we do that will very much be decided upon in the lead up to the budget,” which will be announced in October, he said. Any decisions taken had to also be fiscally sustainable, he added.
Aspects of budget negotiations will be brought forward this year, he said.
This was due to the fact the Government will at the same time be steering EU-level negotiations for the second half of this year, when it holds the rotating Council of the EU presidency.
“Obviously it’s [a] budget that will focus on pressures that people are undoubtedly feeling because of all of the shocks over the last five to six years, exacerbated now by this war in the Middle East,” the Taoiseach said.
Martin also defended plans to stop providing accommodation housing supports to Ukrainian refugees who fled to Ireland following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“No one anticipated the war would go on for five years, but we will work with the Ukrainian community in Ireland in terms of the change of direction,” he said.
Ending the practice of housing Ukrainians in hotels paid for by the State would be done on a “gradual” basis. “The original approach was a very much emergency response,” he said.
The Ukrainian government had a need for people to return to help restore its economy, which was a factor Martin said had been “overlooked”.
