Government criticised for approving plans to use gas-powered generators

Eamon Ryan said in his letter approving the establishment of up to six generators on a north Dublin site that they were needed to avoid "a likely and substantial risk to the security of supply" this winter. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

The Government has been criticised for approving plans to use gas-powered generators to avoid power outages this winter.

The plan was approved by Environment Minister Eamon Ryan in June, but the documentation was published by the energy regulator Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) on Monday, the same day as the UN's IPCC report warned of a climate catastrophe.