Minister: I'll be pushing up daisies before we get real offshore wind

'The very first application that goes in for an offshore wind farm, there'll be a bunch of people that will come along and object to it and it will probably be tied up in the High Courts for God knows how long.'

Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW Patrick O’Donovan has defended plans for a liquid natural gas terminal, saying that he would be “pushing up daisies” before offshore wind energy plans come to fruition.

“The very first application that goes in for an offshore wind farm, there'll be a bunch of people that will come along and object to it and it will probably be tied up in the High Courts for God knows how long because anybody and everybody in this country is given a right to object to everything and in the interim we're told ‘trust us it'll be okay’ and we don't need to invest in any new infrastructure," he said.

Mr O'Donovan said a liquid natural gas terminal would provide the country with certainty of supply adding: “It doesn't say we're going to increase supply or dependency.” 

He welcomed the Taoiseach’s comments that LNG has to be considered in light of the energy security crisis brought about by the war in Ukraine.

He told RTE radio it "makes sense in terms of the commercial element of it and the injection into the local community in North Kerry and West Limerick".

“In terms of where Ireland Inc is now and the vulnerability to the State where we have a war raging in Europe, wholesale gas prices going through the roof. 

"As well as that, our only source of gas, our only external source of gas outside of the Corrib, which accounts for about only 27%, is through a third country which is no longer a member of the EU."

Mr O’Donovan said the proposed LNG terminal would basically be “a big tank farm to store gas in case something happens so that supply won't be interrupted".

However, Jerry McEvilly of Friends of the Earth said an LNG terminal would not miraculously solve Ireland's energy security problem. It would take at least five years to build and supply was not guaranteed.

He said Ireland needed to move away from solely considering energy security and there was a need to look at energy efficiency and demand reduction.

“We need to plug the hole when it comes to energy, not simply demand a bigger fossil fuel tap. That means supporting better energy efficiency measures, particularly for vulnerable households.”