Sinn Féin spokesperson on Climate Action and the Environment, Darren O’Rourke TD, has highlighted the continuing risk to Ireland’s energy system as we head into the winter months.

Commenting on Eirgrid’s Winter Outlook published today, the Meath East TD said:

“While the outlook is better than this time last year, the simple fact is that the risk remains to our electricity grid. Despite repeated assurances from the government that they would get to grips with this situation, we are still facing uncertainty.

“Lower risk is welcome but it does not imply no risk at all. As is confirmed by today’s report from Eirgrid, the balance between supply and demand remains tight.

“We are in this situation precisely because decades of successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael-led governments failed to adequately plan.

“While the government has secured 270 extra megawatts of temporary emergency generation this year, it is important to remember that had they put proper planning in place from the outset, this might not have been needed at all. Instead, such scarce resources could have been directed elsewhere, for example toward the renewable energy transition.

“We urgently need more transparency on this issue. The government, however, remains determined to keep us all in the dark. Despite promises that they would be published ‘in the next few weeks’ for well over six months now, the energy security review and the McCarthy report have yet to see the light of day. This is not good enough.

“Sinn Féin is calling on government to publish these reports without delay. Ordinary workers, families and hard-pressed businesses deserve a full understanding of what lies ahead this winter.”