Taoiseach rules out nationalising Corrib gas field
An Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government is more likely to follow EU proposals on energy which will be finalised this week. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins
The Taoiseach has ruled out nationalising the Corrib gas field to keep energy prices down.
The gas field produces around a quarter of Ireland's natural gas but is operated by a private firm, Vermillion Energy.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik asked Micheál Martin to consider nationalising the production of gas at the field in order to tackle soaring energy bills.
She said the State has the power to do so under legislation introduced by Fianna Fáil, the Fuels (Control of Supplies) Acts 1971 and 1982.
"These were powers invoked during the oil shortages which followed the middle east conflict of the 1970s. We know these powers exist and we have used them before.
"In parallel with the welcome measures at EU level, we need to see this Government doing more in Ireland to ensure that excessive profits are harnessed from the energy companies to alleviate the real hardship faced by so many struggling individuals, families, and businesses, as they see their energy bills skyrocketing."
However, Mr Martin said the Government is more likely to follow EU proposals on energy which will be finalised this week.
He said the EU measures will "deal with the Corrib gas field and other gas fields in terms of fossil fuel extraction or production".
However, he said that before any domestic measures are taken it "makes sense for us to have clarity and a decision from the European Union on the operation of the gas market and the mechanisms it would deploy".
"That is also important for fossil fuel extraction. We are focusing as much as we can on the immediate, including this year, the early part of next year, and the entirety of 2023.
"There are wider issues around the Corrib gas field in the future by the way. That company has plans for what will happen after fossil fuel extraction, including what will happen to the plant that is there, which could be used for renewable energy or variations of that into the future."
The Taoiseach had earlier been asked by Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald about measures to actively cap energy prices.
Ms McDonald said that "while energy credits are well and good, they do not provide certainty". She said that when the Government introduced its initial energy credit earlier this year, it was "too slow".
"It was wiped out by further price hikes before it even landed into people’s accounts. Therefore, this is clearly a flawed approach. Households need a Government response that matches the scale of the crisis.
"I believe the Government must take action to cut electricity prices to pre-crisis levels and apply a cap to freeze them at that level until the end of February of next year.
"Cutting electricity bills and freezing them at pre-crisis levels will deliver that assurance. It simply makes sense and yet speaking on the radio yesterday, the Taoiseach ruled this out."
Earlier, Tanáiste Leo Varadkar has said he would be "nervous" about price caps on energy bills and it "echoes of the bank guarantee".
"One issue I think with price caps — and I am not ruling them out — is essentially the way the price cap would work is the Government would set the price cap and then agree to pay the amount above no matter what it is.
"That means you can't possibly cost it, you can only guesstimate what it might cost and to me, it has echoes if you like of the bank guarantee, and of contracts for difference."
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