Business chiefs call for examination of energy supply

The country’s energy supply should be examined by an Oireachtas committee, business chiefs claimed today.

Branding the issue urgent and important, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) said a secure and competitive supply of energy was crucial for future economic growth.

The organisation said all options should be considered, including wind, biomass, biofuel and nuclear.

Danny McCoy, IBEC director of policy, said: “A secure and competitive supply of energy is crucial to economic growth.

“For Ireland, energy presents a particularly difficult challenge, given our lack of indigenous resources and our geographical isolation on the periphery of Europe. This is compounded by the need to change the way in which we meet our energy needs.

“Concerns about climate change, about the price and availability of traditional energy sources – oil, coal, gas, peat – all contribute to the necessity for diversified low-carbon energy sources,” he said.

In early November, IBEC convened a meeting of industry leaders addressed by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Eamon Ryan.

The purpose of the event was to stimulate debate on Ireland’s future fuel mix and to identify which energy option to take and how to deliver it efficiently and economically.

No single direction was chosen and now the business body, in its monthly newsletter to members, said the only way forward was for a fact-based examination of Ireland’s energy needs.

“The right place to bring all this together is through an Oireachtas committee which would have the will and the resources to call on expert advice,” Mr McCoy said.

IBEC is the national voice of business and employers and is the umbrella body for Ireland’s leading sector groups and associations.